CHS News
Cleburne to Compete at 2009 Construction Challenge
By Lisa Magers
Mar 17, 2009 - 3:58:14 PM

For the second consecutive year, Cleburne High School has qualified a team for the Construction Challenge, a nationwide competition which engages secondary students in real-world challenges relating to the construction industry.

Cleburne students Luis Saldivar, Brian Hughes, Steven Brown, Joey Giminiani and Brad Lee won a berth at the championship finals, which will be held May 19-23 in Knoxville, TN after finishing second at the Texas Regional Rally.

“They placed second overall with 25 teams competing,” said Jeff Cotten, CHS building trades teacher. “Only the top three teams from each regional rally were eligible to advance to nationals, so we were very excited when we heard the results. The competition is bigger this year. Last year six regional rallies took place. This year there were 16.”

At the regional rally, held in Greenville, teams participated in three contests on which they were judged. The first event involved the development of a presentation based on infrastructure issues. The second required students to design and build a piece of equipment, from supplied materials, that had to pick up and move wooden cubes and golf balls from one location to another. The third challenge involved a service technician simulation.

“I think our team clinched their spot as national qualifiers when they won the second challenge,” Cotten said. “That’s where they really shined. They were the only team that completed the task without any penalties.”

“In the third challenge, they had to do some troubleshooting,” Cotten said. “Each team was divided between two rooms and they had to communicate with walkie-talkies in diagnosing an equipment problem. I think it was pretty easy for them.”

In developing the Construction Challenge, which is co-sponsored by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, organizers encourage participants to utilize creativity and critical thinking skills as they deal with challenges centered on engineering, research, project management and product development.

“If the guidelines don’t say you can’t, then you can,” said CHS junior and team captain Brad Lee. “That’s been my Construction Challenge motto. They told us that at the 2008 regional meet and I’ve stuck with that.”

Lee is the sole veteran in the group, having competed last year at the International Construction Challenge held in Las Vegas.

“I’ve been looking forward to this year’s competition since last year,” Lee said. “I recruited two of the members of this year’s team because they are smart and have great imaginations. You have to think outside the box in this contest.”

The 17-year-old, who is in his second year as team captain, feels his experiences at the 2008 competition have made him a stronger participant and leader.

“I feel more like a leader this year,” he said. “Everyone is depending on me as team captain and looking to me for advice. I think as a team we will be stronger this year. We have taken our practices more seriously. I also think last year’s experience is a positive factor--we know what to expect.”

With the national competition only two months away, Lee and his teammates, with Cotten as advisor, meet regularly to prepare for their upcoming challenges. More than 4,500 students and 800 Construction Challenge teams will be in attendance at the event, in conjunction with Destination ImagiNation’s Global Finals, an international creative problem-solving tournament.

“The challenge components will be the same—infrastructure presentation, manufacturing design and service tech simulation,” Cotten said. “But they’ll be on a bigger scale. We’ll also have to recruit an audience to attend our infrastructure presentation.”

“I think this year is going to be better for all the students participating,” Cotten said. “We’ll be staying at the University of Tennessee. With more teams involved this year, there will be more kids. The environment will be very kid-friendly, age-appropriate and will provide an atmosphere for learning.”