♪♪
(hammering noises)
David: Right now construction is
booming again.
We've got an economic revival occurring and the
construction industry is dying for skilled labor.
And so we tell our kids, hey,
if you can show up on time, you can pass a drug test,
you can work with your hands,
you know how to read a tape measure -- there are people
who are dying to put you to work.
Christina: On this two-acre site at Lincoln High School
in Stockton, you'll see teenagers engaged in just
about every aspect of construction...
from computer-aided design to the actual
building of structures.
This group is practicing how to build a shed that they'll
re-create at an upcoming construction competition.
David: So that intersecting wall is going to come in
here and it's going to join in right along in here,
and this needs to extend over three and half.
Christina: David Dabaco is an instructor at the
Engineering and Construction Academy at Lincoln High.
Built in collaboration with nearly 100 industry
partners, the academy prepares students for jobs
right out of high school or a path to higher education.
David: We focused on four different career paths.
The architecture, drafting and engineering and design
-- and a lot of those students are going on
to be students that will matriculate to
four- year institutions.
Then we have construction technology,
which is all your flat work and rough framing.
They'll go to work in a carpenter's union,
they'll go to work in laborer's union.
Some of them may not go union,
some may go to work for themselves or
non- union shops.
We have mechanical construction, also,
and we have the woodworking and
millwork program.
Jeff: It truly is a model program,
for not only the state, but the country.
And this is what we need to do in the high schools to
provide our kids with great opportunities so they
can be gainfully employed.
Get a short piece of pipe, and then you need
a 90, ok?
Christina: Academy founder Jeff Wright wanted to create
real job opportunities for youth in Stockton,
a city hit hard by the recession.
The academy opened in 2010 with major funding from a
California Career Technical Education grant.
Jeff: I wish every kid could go to college.
But the reality and the numbers bear it out,
it's just not going to happen.
There's 1.3 trillion dollars in college debt right now.
There's more college debt than credit card debt.
We need to focus on getting our kids a job.
A lot of our kids start out in the $20,
22, 23 dollar an hour range, so it is critical to the
city of Stockton to provide those kinds of
high- paying wage jobs.
It's a win-win for everybody.
Christina: Recent graduates of the program can attest to
the high wages they're earning straight
out of school.
Tristin: I'm 18 and I'm making $23.50.
And in July, I get my $2 raise.
And then for going back to school,
I get an additional raise.
I can max out around $50, $60 dollars an hour.
I don't see it as a job, I see it as a career.
I'm going to be doing it for awhile.
David: I think the huge misnomer for construction
is that it is low-paying jobs.
I mean, think about what's required to build you know,
say, the Bay Bridge.
From the architects to the engineers to the divers to
everybody that's involved in that project,
there's a lot of really skilled individuals with
a lot talent in there.
And those are really high-paying careers.
RJ: I looked at a lot of high schools and so
did my mom.
And as soon as I found out this place had an
Engineering and Construction Academy,
it was my dream to come here.
Christina: Randolph plans to major in electrical
engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Everything he does here is geared toward his career
plans, even making these birdhouses.
RJ: This kind of gives me a chance to work with my hands
and get my hands dirty with what I really need to do.
So though it's not the same thing it kind of gives me an
idea of what I'm going to be doing in the future.
Christina: Emily also has an eye on the future,
with plans to join the Ironworkers Union.
Her experience at Lincoln has given her the confidence
to enter a male-dominated field.
Emily: I'm used to being the only girl and I'm kind of
more a tomboy, so like I get along with the guys and
they're really nice to me so I really like it here.
Jeff: We firmly believe that women and girls
should have the same opportunities as guys.
And if they can go out and do the job,
the should get the same pay as the guys.
Teachers recognize not all 500 students taking classes
in the academy will go on to work in construction or
engineering fields, but many do learn
valuable life lessons.
Melinda: When I first came here,
I'd never used a nail.
My family was just like, oh you know,
it's fine, just leave it.
But coming here I learned how to use a drill,
I learned how to use screws, and all that.
Alberto: We get to use tools,
like skill saws, hammers, we get to nail things.
It's different from woodshop,
because in woodshop we just cut things and that's it.
Here we get to build things, like we got to build a shed
and everything.
Christina: Alberto is part of the Lincoln High team
that's competing in the 32nd annual design build
competition put on by the Sacramento Regional
Builders Exchange.
The event draws more than 300 high school students,
who get just two days to build a structure of their
choice, such as a gazebo, a shed or a tiny house.
On the second day of competition,
Alberto is feeling positive about
Lincoln High's progress.
Alberto: So yesterday we pretty much started from
scratch, built the floors, build all the walls,
we started putting rafters on.
Today we pretty much finished off the roof,
put trim on, put shingles on the roof,
ridge caps.
It's a small house, so it has like two windows
and a door.
It's different, it's different compared to
everyone else here.
Tim: We've got several schools that are
building tiny houses.
The program that the kids are building for this time
around, the tiny houses actually go to provide
housing for homeless veterans.
All the materials are donated for the building
of their structures, and then they get to keep the
structures afterwards.
And in some cases, some schools have already
pre-sold the sheds to existing buyers,
some of them will go back and will auction them off.
Some of the sheds are donated for other programs.
We have one school that's building some storage sheds
that will be going to the Folsom Zoo,
but the nice thing is the schools do take it
and auction it off or get money from the
selling of the sheds.
Those monies go back to buying materials that they
use in their shop programs throughout the course
of the year.
Christina: As the students work,
judges make the rounds to score each structure.
There are 23 schools represented at the
competition, and organizers hope that students from at
least a few of those schools will walk away with
new career ideas.
Tim: For every five journeymen that retire,
there's only one apprentice entering the trades.
And so we're really getting to the point where it is
a critical situation.
It's really a wonderful middle class career that is
available to kids who don't go on to college.
Alberto: Construction is a hard job.
It is energy-consuming, you're really are tired
at the end of the day.
I think I could do it, like if I really wanted to be
a carpenter, like I think I could pull it off.
And I get to see what I do, it's not like me
writing something or reading something,
it's like I did this with my hands.
And boom, it's there.
Christina: All the students here have something tangible
they can be proud of...
but especially Lincoln High, which was awarded
Best of Show at the end of the competition.
(Cheering)
For more infomation >> Outdoor recreation area coming to California community - Duration: 1:26. 
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