Over the last year, a team of Alaska Job Corps students from the carpentry, building construction technology and electrical trades united to build a new Security/Transportation Office at the entrance to the Center. The new building serves as a welcome center and security checkpoint for Center staff, students and all visitors.

Carpentry students laid out and excavated the site, built the floor, walls and door and insulated and covered the walls and ceiling. Students from the electrical trade did the wiring for both inside and outside the building, installed lights and heaters and ran the fiber-optic cabling for the telephone and computer systems, while the building construction technology students installed vinyl flooring, painted and sealed the interior woodwork and painted the exterior. All three classes worked together to dig the trenches necessary for running pipes, lines and wires to and from the building.

According to Mark Cruthers, carpentry trade instructor, hands-on work like this project is extremely beneficial for Alaska Job Corps’ students.

“Our students learned how to work as a team with other trades, and to be aware of the needs of other groups as they worked on the project,” said Cruthers. “This is what you would call big-time teamwork.”

In addition to developing their skills as team players, students also worked in heavy snow, sub-zero weather and other adverse conditions to construct the building.

“These students had direct experience working in harsh conditions while continuing to do an excellent job,” Cruthers said. “They learned all about the reality of working in bad weather, yet remained dedicated to producing outstanding work.”

The Alaska Job Corps building construction technology instructor, David Eagle, is also very proud of his students that worked on the project. He says that they performed to the best of their ability, every single day. He adds that this was his students’ first experience doing professional painting, and that it was a great lesson for them which they will use in the future.

Ben Kainer, electrical trade instructor, says that his students worked hard while expanding their abilities through hands-on experience. He says that they were also committed to doing exceptional work.

“Through teamwork, flexibility and collaboration, the Alaska Job Corps students from these trades are able to see the product of their hard work every day,” said Malyn Smith, Alaska Job Corps Center Director. “Applied training like this is really the best way for our students to learn skills that make them even more employable, and provide them the experience they need to become successful members of the workforce.”

Alaska Job Corps students gain hands-on experience in multiple ways: through on-Center projects like the new Security/Transportation Office, through off-Center projects and through the Work-Based Learning program, where they are placed in paid or unpaid positions at different organizations while still conducting their training.

“We take tremendous pride in the work of our students and this new building is just one example of their many successes,” added Smith.

The new office building is in constant use by both staff and students, 24 hours a day. The office provides additional security for the Center, as part of a nationwide effort to guarantee the safety of Job Corps students and staff.  

The Alaska Job Corps Center is a federally funded career training program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor and managed by Chugach Educational Services, Inc. The Center is committed to providing the highest quality programs for young adults by offering instructions in academics, trades and life skills through innovative methods that respond to the unique individual and group needs of today’s youth.

Story and photos by Carin Meyer, BCL.