D.O.E. to launch Construction Academy

[urbanguy]

D.O.E. to launch Construction Academy

Pilot schools throughout the state Department of Education will launch the first ever Construction Academy, designed to attract students to careers in the building and construction trades.

About 30 high-school and community college shop teachers this week began training to teach a new building and construction course.

Hawaii is experiencing rapid growth in the local construction industry because of military and government spending and a booming residential housing market.

Local economics have projected the labor demand in construction over the next seven years at about 1,720 jobs per year or about 11,040 more workers.

The program involves eight D.O.E. schools: Kailua, Radford, Waipahu, Mililani, Kahuku, Pearl City, Waialua and Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences in Pahoa on the Big Island.

Honolulu Community College is the lead campus for construction related initiatives in the University of Hawaii system.

In the end we hope to build a bright future for young people throughout the state, said Ramsey Pedersen, Honolulu Community College chancellor.