The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
JVS students showcase masonry skills
Junior and senior students in the Lorain County JVS Masonry Trades program participated in the Ohio-Kentucky Administrative District Council of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers 10th annual Holiday Masonry Skills Competition on Dec. 6.
The competition was held at the Northern Ohio Regional Training Center in Amherst.
Thirty-three competitors, 16 juniors and 17 seniors from nine school districts competed.
Each student was given a blueprint that showed a brick and block project that had to be built in three hours. Bricklayers and advisory members were on hand to judge the projects based on correct design, level, plumb, square, tooling neatness and workmanship.
David Rudisill, masonry trades instructor, shared why he feels a competition, such as this one, is important for his students to participate in.
“I know that their stress level goes up in a competition setting, but what this shows them is that they might think they are great in lab, but how do they stack up against other students their same age and grade level. It shows them their strengths and also areas that they might need to improve on,” he said.
JVS masonry trades seniors Tucker McKinley (Avon Lake) and Jaren O’Conner (Elyria) placed ninth and 10th, respectively, at the competition. Both McKinley and O’Conner felt that the work they do in their JVS lab prepared them for the competition.
“It was a good learning experience for sure,” said O’Conner. “It was just like working out in the real world but the time went by really fast, a lot faster than I thought it would. When you are working, you really aren’t paying attention to the time, and three hours flew by.”
Juniors Omaly Velazquez (Clearview) and Levi Shawley
(Elyria) placed sixth and seventh out of the 16 juniors who competed.
The JVS masonry trades seniors who weren’t competing at the event, were on-hand to serve as laborers.
They helped mix and replenish mortar for each competitor. This also served as a great way for these students to see other students’ skills and assist as they would on a job site.