Construction academy builds for Jets band

At James Clemens High School, construction academy students deliver keys to the storage building for the band to director Keith Anderson. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – Students in the Construction Academy at James Clemens High School completed a building project that epitomizes real-world application of skills, along with outreach to help fellow students.

“Several of our senior construction academy students built a storage building measuring 12 feet by 14 feet for the James Clemens Band. They worked on the construction over the past year as their culmination project,” academy director Mike Burkett said.

Before school dismissed for the 2015-2016 school year, one of those students, Taylor Buchanan, handed over the building keys to Keith Anderson, James Clemens Director of Bands. Several construction students witnessed the hand-off of keys as Anderson inspected the building.

“The seniors took the project from needs assessment (to the step of) drawing a blueprint for approval and budgeting,” Burkett said. “Then, students actually went out and built the project.”

In other aspects of the undertaking, the James Clemens construction students researched building codes, soils, insulation requirements and many other aspects of building a project from start to finish.

“While many other students helped, the primary seniors were Riley Brown, Taylor Buchanan, Naylor Mayfield, Jake Daniel, Tom Robicheaux, Justin Hall, Ethan Polhemus and Beth Viers,” Burkett said.

Earlier this year, James Clemens Construction Academy earned Business Industry Certification (BIC), which had involved two years of hard work by administrators, teachers and students.

The Business Industry Certification verifies the objectives and course work for education programs. Business and industry councils across Alabama establish program criteria. The council expects student programs to include investment in capital equipment, training that local employers need, adequate classroom facilities, certified teachers and approved curriculum.

BIC requirements also call for a local advisory committee and for students to pursue community service goals and receive career counseling.

James Clemens Principal Dr. Brian Clayton ensured classroom space was available and hired a certified teacher with 30 years of construction experience.