"The Home Depot was the
site of more than a dozen elementary school children creating construction projects with Lego blocks and
other building materials as part of an annual Block Kids Building Program
sponsored by The Piedmont Chapter of NAWIC (National Association of Women in
Construction).
A wrecking ball and tower under
demolition designed and built by Tristan Shields, a fifth grader at Pilot Elementary
School took the first place prize.
Tristan thinks he might like to be a military engineer when he grows
up. Ava Spradley, a fifth grader at
Northern won second place in the local contest.
Tied for third place were Jacob Kidd, a sixth grader at Northeast
Randolph Middle School, and Joshua Snyder, a third grader schooled at home. Among the projects conceived were: an animal shelter with a protective force
field made from aluminum foil, a hover craft, a boat, and an oceanic waste
treatment plant.
The Block Kids program was created
in 1990 to introduce children in grades 1 through 6 to the construction industry. Since launching the program, more than
300,000 children have participated nationwide.
Local chapter winning entries advance to NAWIC regional competition, and
one semi-finalist from each region is entered in the National Program
competition. Each participant is given a
set of 90 Lego bricks, a piece of string, a rock, aluminum foil, and one hour
to build a project that is in some way related to the construction
industry. Each contestant is asked a
series of questions about their project and is judged for their use of the
materials provided, creativity, enthusiasm, attention to detail, oral
presentation, and reason for participating.
This year’s judges were Sterling Bollinger of Lindsey
Architecture, Ginna Freyaldenhoven of TFF Architects, Mandi Clift of J Hyatt
Hammond, Emily Hinton of Moser Mayer Phoenix Associates, Iris Gen-Gal of ESPA
Architects, and Bruce Wolff, consultant.
“We were
amazed at the creativity, use of color, attention to detail, and appropriate
scaling displayed by the young participants” commented Bollinger. The judges seemed to have as much fun as the
participants.
“The
National Association of Women in Construction is committed to enhancing the
success of all women in construction - not just those who are NAWIC members,” says Cindy Johnsen, a past president of NAWIC. “We
accomplish this through educational opportunities, networking, and
community/industry service projects. If
you are a woman employed in any area of the construction industry, we welcome
you to join us!”
Press Release
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