Students build structures for competition

Students at Bonita Springs Elementary recently had a chance to spend time with local builders, architects and engineers during a “Building Blocks” session provided by the National Association of Women in Construction.

The session was sponsored by local chapter Southwest Florida 297 as an annual event to introduce children to the construction industry.

“The idea is to give them an idea of what jobs are out there in construction and give them a very primary idea of different construction aspects,” said Tracy Bean, the co-chair of the event that has been taking place for seven years at the school.

During the event, students are given 100 blocks, a rock, a piece of string, and a piece of tin foil and asked to create a structure in 40 minutes.

“Seems like we are so oriented to tests but this gives students something different. It’s a fun thing and it’s a competition where they learn too,” said Susan Shelley, the science teacher at Bonita Elementary.

Shelley has coordinated the event for the last few years in hopes of giving first and second graders a chance to compete for trophies and work with local construction entities.

“This teaches them skills, problem solving and creativity, and they get to ask the engineers questions to see what works and what doesn’t,” said Shelley, of the program that awards each student a T-shirt, plastic construction hat and poster. “They get feedback from professionals, and it’s a nice interaction between the kids and local businesses.”

After completing their structures and discussing them, each one was judged on design and creativity.

“We like doing this every year because we get a new group and it helps us introduce our field of construction,” Bean said.