Landscape Architecture Students Visit From Penn State
Nov. 5, 2009 - 4:50 p.m.
About 40 students of C. Timothy Baird, associate professor of landscape architecture at The Pennsylvania State University, traveled to Penn College's School of Construction and Design Technologies on Thursday. Rotating among masonry-lab work stations and supervised by skilled Penn College students, the guests received several hours of up-close instruction in a variety of building-stone media. Penn State classes annually travel to main campus; this is the first time in about six years that landscape students made the trip. Richard R. Motter and Glenn R. Luse, instructors of building construction, circulated among the visitors, and a number of industry supporters added to the day's success with contributions of material and insight: Jim Michele and Watsontown Brick Co., who donated paving brick; Al Creswell and Glen-Gery Brick, brick; Shane Kersteder, special mortar; Charlie Wilson, thin-veneer mountain stone; Clay Henry and Cliff Grimes, of Beavertown Block Co., building block; and Tony Mirarchi and Dale Pepper from the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union, who donated time and trowels.
Students Prep Site for Solar-Panel Installation
Oct. 22, 2009 - 2:00 p.m.
On an appropriately sunny Thursday afternoon, students from Penn College's School of Construction and Design Technologies set the poles that will anchor an array of solar panels southwest of the Victorian House. With no convenient way to drive the concrete truck to the job site (which is surrounded by the Victorian House, the Thompson Professional Development Center and temporary modular classrooms), a wheelbarrow brigade of electrical and building construction students ferried concrete from a nearby parking lot. The panels are being installed under a Solar Scholars grant, awarded by the Sustainable Energy Fund to support the design and building of a campus photovoltaic system. Penn College was among the institutions represented at a faculty-attended energy education conference in July 2008, making the commitment to integrate renewable-energy studies into the curriculum. Each of those campuses plans a grid-tied solar installation that will help power an academic building, student housing or other facility; Penn College sought and received funding to reduce the carbon footprint of the Victorian House, which already is connected to a ground-source heat pump system – itself a renewable energy. Watch PCToday for more about the project as it progresses in the coming weeks.
Construction Students Awarded Scholarships From Industry Allies
Sept. 30, 2009 - 11:19 a.m.
Five Penn College students – all enrolled in the School of Construction and Design Technologies – will receive $1,250 from Centex Homes and the philanthropic arm of the National Association of Home Builders, both longtime partners in the college’s academic mission. This year’s honorees include Benjamin H. Clark, Chadds Ford, and Corwyn K. Smith, Gettysburg, residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration; Noah A. Grube, New Tripoli, construction management; Ryan M. Hummel, Reading, building construction technology; and Tyler V. Jones, South Abington Township, architectural technology. It is the second consecutive award to Smith, who received $3,000 last year.
'You Be the Judge' Winners Announced
April 28, 2009 - 12:20 p.m.
Winners in the You Be the Judge competition, in which the Penn College community was enlisted to choose among the eye-catching craftsmanship of students in the School of Construction and Design Technologies' masonry emphasis, have been announced. First place, shown in photo at far left, went to
Zig-Zag, constructed by Cody R. Smith, of Clearville, and Jerry D. Heichel, of Wellsboro; placing second were Nathan D. Wilson, of Roaring Branch, and Kody M. Shipe, of St. Marys, creators of Gothic Header Garden.
Photos by Glenn R. Luse, instructor of building construction
Penn State Architecture Students Visit Masonry Lab
March 3, 2009 - 11:58 a.m.
Penn College's School of Construction and Design Technologies welcomed nearly 50 architecture students from The Pennsylvania State University on Monday. Moving through work stations in the school's masonry lab, the Penn State students – traveling with Ute Poerschke, associate professor in Penn State's Department of Architecture – took trowels in hand to lay brick, block and stone. Organizers said the annual program gives architecture students a better idea of what's involved in bringing their designs to reality by pairing them with Penn College students for a valuable, hands-on primer on actual construction techniques. Richard R. Motter and Glenn R. Luse, instructors of building construction, were among the Penn College faculty mentors, with industrial backup and generous donations from Glen Gery Corp., Watsontown Brick and Beavertown Block; representatives of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union; and help from the Quikrete mortar-mixing system.
Two-Year Students Place Second in National Competition
Jan. 22, 2009 - 2:47 p.m.
A Penn College team of associate-degree students finished second in this week's National Association of Home Builders' Student Chapters Residential Construction Management Competition, held in conjunction with the International Builders Show in Las Vegas. Members of the two-year team are Benjamin H. Clark, Zachary T. McAllister, Michael J. Reier, Erich L. Snyder and Brian D. West. A team of students in four-year majors – Steven R. Brannan, Seth L. Culbert, Jeffrey N. DeAngelo, Andrew A. DeGregorio (honored with an NAHB "Outstanding Student Award"), Bryan T. Hay and Ryan Shannon – finished 23rd in the competition, which also saw Barney A. Kahn, instructor of building construction technology, honored as Outstanding Educator for his work with the Penn College Construction Association (the NAHB student chapter). Teams from Brigham Young University won both divisions.
College Teams Head to National Competition
Jan. 18, 2009 - 7:02 p.m.
Two teams of Penn College students and their faculty supporters are in Las Vegas this week for the National Association of Home Builders' Student Chapters Residential Construction Management Competition, sponsored by Centex and held in conjunction with the association's International Builders Show at Caesars Palace. The two- and four-year teams got an 11th-hour boost from the West Branch Susquehanna Builders Association, which contributed $2,500 and helped evaluate the student presentations in the ACC Auditorium on Thursday night. NAHB contributed an additional $1,750 to the students, whose management proposals involving construction projects in San Antonio, Texas, will be evaluated by industry judges Monday. Members of the two-year team are Benjamin H. Clark, Zachary T. McAllister, Michael J. Reier, Erich L. Snyder and Brian D. West. The four-year team comprises Steven R. Brannan, Seth L. Culbert, Jeffrey N. DeAngelo, Andrew A. DeGregorio (who will be honored with an NAHB "Outstanding Student Award"), Bryan T. Hay and Ryan Shannon. They will be accompanied by Barney A. Kahn and Garret L. Graff, instructors of building construction technology and co-advisers to the Penn College Construction Association (the NAHB student chapter).
Construction Students Buoyed by ‘Extreme Makeover’ Experience
Nov. 20, 2008 - 4:42 p.m.
The glory of real-world experience and the glare of reality television recently intersected for a group of Penn College students and their mentors, who traveled to Franklin County for an “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” construction project to benefit a family dedicated to helping special-needs youngsters. Helpful hands – mainly from the college’s School of Construction and Design Technologies – worked Nov. 11-12 on a new house for Matthew and Blasia Drumm and their three children in South Mountain, a southeastern Pennsylvania community near the Maryland border.
Construction Student Awarded ‘Build Your Future’ Scholarship
July 23, 2008 - 1:35 p.m.
A Penn College construction student from Gettysburg is among just two dozen national winners of a Centex “Build Your Future” scholarship. Corwyn K. Smith, entering his second year in the college’s building construction technology associate-degree major, was awarded $3,000 from the National Housing Endowment (the philanthropic arm of the National Association of Home Builders). The fund, created by Centex Corp., provides tuition assistance to undergraduate and graduate students nationwide who are pursuing careers in the building industry.
'PA Masonry School' Held in College Construction Labs
June 11, 2008 - 11:28 p.m.
Six students from the chimney-sweep and building trades gathered on campus this week for "Advanced Fireplace Construction," intensive hands-on instruction offered through the
Pennsylvania Guild of Professional Chimney Sweeps. This is the eighth year for the guild's PA Masonry School program, which is taught by Glenn R. Luse, a building construction instructor at Penn College; and Chris Prior from the Adirondack Chimney Co. in Mosherville, N.Y. The weeklong advanced course required basic bricklaying experience; a beginners' session, in which participants constructed chimneys on model "homes" in the college's carpentry lab, was held June 2-6.
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