A program that aims to inspire and prepare North Bay high school seniors for careers in the construction trades is building on a big addition in four more counties early next year.
From the pedagogical and logistical framing already up in Sonoma County, North Bay Construction Corps will be starting classes in Marin, Napa and Lake counties, adding more cohorts in Sonoma County and incorporating a mirror program in Mendocino County. Now the push is to sign up students for the new cohorts and recruit working contractors and industry professionals as volunteer teachers, according to Kathy Goodacre, executive director for Career Technical Education Foundation Sonoma County, one of the founders of the corps.
“We want to make sure students are hearing from contractors involved in the real world,” she said. “The commitment isn’t that big, like one night or one Saturday, talking about the trade, what is expected as an employer, what starting wages are and hands-on training for perspective trades.”
The corps expansion is possible because of a two-year $1 million grant awarded this past spring to Career Technical Education Foundation Sonoma County from Tipping Point Community to launch the expansion to Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties. The Marin expansion is supported by $56,800 pledged in recent months by the Mario Ghilotti Family Foundation, overseen by Mike Ghilotti, president of San Rafael-based general engineering contractor Ghilotti Bros.
The CTE foundation is contracting with North Coast Builders Exchange to administer the program in its service area — Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties. The exchange worked with Sonoma County Office of Education and Santa Rosa Junior College to develop curriculum for the coursework, which would lead to industry-recognized certifications such as CPR and first aid, forklift and boom lift operation, personal protective equipment and ladder safety.
To read the full article, written by Jeff Quackenbush, click here: North Bay Construction Corps career program expands to 5 Northern California counties
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