Construction Students Help Children’s Learning Center Prepare for Winter
Dec. 15, 2011 - 11:45 a.m.
The Fall 2011 semester saw completion of another on-campus construction project, courtesy of the School of Construction and Design Technologies. Students from Barney A. Kahn’s Framing Principles class, Jason E. Krick’s Building Materials Applications class, and volunteers from the Penn College Construction Association student organization worked together to complete a bicycle/toy storage shed for the Children’s Learning Center. The shed will offer a convenient location for the children’s bicycles and other outdoor toys during the off-season and at other times when they’re not in use.
Photo by Kimberly M. Edwards, secretary, School of Construction and Design Technologies
Hughesville Cub Scouts Visit Penn College Labs
Nov. 4, 2011 - 3:37 p.m.
Hughesville Cub Scout Pack 80 recently visited Penn College, addressing various topics – including conservation, art, the environment, crafts and science – as they continue their strides toward becoming Boy Scouts. "It was an incredible night in both the plastics labs and the construction labs," said Carl J. Shaner, college health services director and a member of the troop's Parent Committee. "Several of the Scouts are already thinking this is where they want to attend college."
Construction Students Take In-House Road Trip for Safety Instruction
Oct. 12, 2011 - 4:56 a.m.
In a beneficial trip over the mountain (and across academic borders), about 70 freshmen from Penn College's School of Construction and Design Technologies traveled to the School of Natural Resources Management heavy equipment training ground Tuesday for an afternoon of insight. Students in site-preparation and safety classes – joined by construction faculty members Garret L. Graff, Harry W. Hintz Jr., Peter Kruppenbacher and Thomas J. Mulfinger – got a close-up look at the multi-ton machinery they'll encounter on the job. Heavy construction equipment technology students demonstrated a hydraulic excavator, track loader and other machinery from the campus' earth-moving fleet, as Budd L. Greevy, instructor of diesel equipment technology, explained the job-site advantages of each. Along with discussing those benefits, he stressed the need for safety when working on or around the massive, unforgiving vehicles. "You turn them off, you turn them on. These things have no conscience," he said, noting that human precaution is the most reliable defense against workplace tragedy. "They don't think, they don't cry, they don't grieve. I can't be more blunt than that." Greevy and his students also demonstrated use of a "trench box," which prevents the collapse of dirt walls onto excavation workers. The visit to the operations site was the latest in a series of beyond-the-classroom exercises planned by construction faculty. Upcoming classes will feature fire-safety and CPR instruction, Graff and Kruppenbacher said.
New Masonry Building Dedicated at Penn College
Aug. 16, 2011 - 5:19 p.m.
Penn College on Tuesday formally dedicated a new $2 million home on its main campus for masonry instruction. The 17,829-square-foot, single-story Construction Masonry Building, designed by Murray Associates Architects, P.C., of Harrisburg, features a large, open lab area and reflects the latest in "green" technologies. Hands-on skills in stone, brick and block masonry, as well as fireplace construction, will be practiced by students in the new lab. “This excellent new facility satisfies multiple needs,” President Davie Jane Gilmour said. “In addition to offering expanded and enhanced spaces for hands-on masonry education, it frees up room in the program’s previous home, the Carl Building Technologies Center, for labs associated with our renewable energy technologies program.” (Photo gallery)
Construction Students Mentor Girl Scouts in Community-Building Project
May 5, 2011 - 9:50 a.m.
Continuing a tradition of building positive relationships within the community, the Penn College Construction Association recently hosted a hands-on activity for two Girl Scout troops from the Jersey Shore area. Sixteen Scouts (a combination of Juniors and Brownies from Troops 262 and 61517) visited campus April 18. Each Scout constructed a birdhouse, which helped satisfy requirements for earning the Human and Habitat Echo Explorer patch. “Our students did a great job, as did our little builders," noted Garret Graff, assistant professor of building construction technology and adviser to PCCA. “It was evident that some had never held a hammer before, but, with much guidance from our students, they accomplished the task. Penn College should be very proud and is very fortunate to have such a great group of students who are willing to spend an evening helping little hands."
Photos by Deb Miele, a Girl Scout troop leader
Legislature Honors College’s National-Champion Construction Team
April 18, 2011 - 5:22 p.m.
A team of two-year students from Penn College's School of Construction and Design Technologies, first-place winners at this year’s National Association of Home Builders Residential Construction Management Competition, recently was honored by the Pennsylvania Senate for its accomplishment. Comprising the championship team, coached by Barney A. Kahn, instructor of building construction technology, are Thomas M. Whitehouse, of Bethlehem; and Brandt D. Hey, Brent K. Hey and Shane A. Beckner, all of Chambersburg. Whitehouse and the Hey brothers are enrolled in residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration; Beckner is majoring in building science and sustainable design: architectural technology concentration. “The members of the Pennsylvania College of Technology School of Construction and Design Technologies Team are truly deserving of recognition and praise for their exceptional ability, diligence and tenacious pursuit of excellence,” reads the congratulatory document, sponsored by Sen. Richard Alloway II (who represents the students’ home 33rd Senatorial District) and Sen. Gene Yaw (a member of the college’s Board of Directors whose 23rd District includes Penn College).
Future Architects Get Hands-On Peek at Creativity's Upshot
March 21, 2011 - 5:31 p.m.
Penn College's School of Construction and Design Technologies hosted architecture students from The Pennsylvania State University on Monday, as masonry students schooled the University Park contingent in the hands-on consequences of building design. Spending much of the day in the college's Carl Building Technologies Center, the Penn Staters picked up their trowels – and more than a few pointers – as they learned a variety of hands-on techniques necessary to breathe life into their blueprints. Richard R. Motter and Glenn R. Luse, instructors of building construction, also worked with students, who were encouraged to remember the high quality and low maintenance of masonry work when developing their eventual construction plans. The informal exchange program (which will move to new laboratory space across campus next year) has become a spring tradition at the college, which enjoys major support from industry partners that include Watsontown Brick, Glen Gery Corp., Beavertown Block and the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union Local #5. For more, visit the PCToday photo gallery.
Open Houses Planned for Le Jeune Chef Grand Reopening
Jan. 26, 2011 - 4:44 p.m.
Le Jeune Chef Restaurant will host grand reopening events on Feb. 1-2 to show off its redecorated dining room. The new design reflects the School of Hospitality’s more natural, organic approach to menu planning. In addition to bringing in elements that reflect nature – natural woods, earth tones, stone, water, and botanical prints and textures – one of the design goals was to provide a more calming, streamlined atmosphere, where the food is the central focus, explained Lenore G. Penfield, director of special events and the gallery, who planned the restaurant’s new design. The lights’ arts-and-crafts style is carried into the rest of the room through the chairs, bar, planters and window cornices. Aside from the chairs, all of the restaurant’s extensive woodwork was handcrafted from Pennsylvania walnut by William F. Geyer, assistant professor of building construction technology.
Penn College Construction Students Bring Home National Title
Jan. 19, 2011 - 5:24 p.m.
A team of two-year students from Penn College's School of Construction and Design Technologies claimed first-place honors at this year’s National Association of Home Builders Residential Construction Management Competition held during last weekend's 2011 International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla. Members of the championship team, coached by Barney A. Kahn, instructor of building construction technology, were Thomas Whitehouse, Brandt and Brent Hey, and Shane Beckner. Brigham Young University placed second in the two-year competition; North Dakota State College of Science finished third. A team of four-year construction students also competed. Coached by Garret Graff, assistant professor of building construction technology, they were Zachary McAllister, Michael Buchalski, Michaele Incontro, Erin Smith, Caleb Baechtle and Nicholas Forrester. The top finishers among four-year teams were Cal Poly, first; Middle Tennessee State University, second; and Brigham Young, third. The teams – both of which represented the Penn College Construction Association – were among 50 representing universities, community colleges, high schools and career technical schools that participated in the competition, which gives students a real-life construction-management project to solve in presentations to a panel of industry judges. Watch PCToday for more on the teams' accomplishments.
Student Organization Helps Cub Scouts Earn Badges
Dec. 9, 2010 - 3:02 p.m.
On Thursday night, the Penn College Construction Association hosted a hands-on activity for about a dozen Cub Scouts from Den 38 (St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church). The Scouts, in the process of earning their Wolf patches, needed to complete a Building and Fixing requirement as part of that process. Each Scout constructed a bird house, which helped him gain a better understanding of the proper use of basic hand tools. Pack 38’s leader, Lori Rexroth, contacted the School of Construction and Design Technologies to request help with the requirement, and PCCA President Brian West organized the activity with the guidance of Barney Kahn (the club's faculty adviser). Reagan McCoy, a first-class Boy Scout from Troop 46 in Lock Haven, welcomed the Scouts to campus by describing some of the experiences he has enjoyed in his troop, and encouraged them to continue to travel the Scouting trail into the Boy Scouts when eligible to do so. "Our students from the PCCA truly did a great job of working with each Scout, making the evening a fun and memorable learning experience," said Steven K. McCoy, Reagan's father and coordinator of matriculation and retention for the School of Construction and Design Technologies. At the conclusion of the evening, the boys were given a Penn College backpack with a logo T-shirt and nail apron to commemorate their visit, courtesy of the Admissions Office and the School of Construction and Design Technologies.
Photos by Steven K. McCoy
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