On March 7, the Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center project at Duke University welcomed a group of Pre-K students from The Little School at Duke. The children all have at least one parent employed by Duke University, and were showing a great interest in learning more about construction, tools and machinery. Teacher Alice Little arranged the site visit through the university’s director of Project Management, Paul Manning, and as Duke is among LeChase’s best clients, the southeast team pulled out all the stops to make it a memorable experience.
Upon arriving at the project site, each child was presented with a hard hat customized with LeChase and Duke stickers, a pair of safety glasses and a safety vest. After Paul welcomed the parents, Brooke Hathaway, Regional Safety Director for LeChase, talked about the importance of safety on our construction projects, and explained why they were wearing their gear as well as why they were on the other side of the fence rather than physically on the jobsite. Brooke then talked about fire safety and showed the visitors how to properly use a fire extinguisher. She asked if they knew where the extinguisher was located in their houses, and surprisingly some of the kids did know. This was also a great reminder for the parents attending to later speak to their kids about fire safety at home.
Senior Superintendent Wayne Melton then told the kids about the kind of project we are building, and what the Duke Alumni Center would be one day. Both Paul and Wayne also spoke to the kids about some of the basic things happening on site, what insulation looks like and why it is important on a building. One of the most exciting moments, however, was when the team staged having a large excavator pushing around dirt piles in the background. For many kids, the resulting noise and excitement was the highlight of their visit.
In the end, the children were able to wear home their new PPE, and also received hard hat stickers and books to draw in from subcontractor Mid-Atlantic Infrastructure Systems (MIS).
In addition to Paul, Brooke and Wayne, thanks to everyone who helped make the day memorable: LeChase VP Jack Goodrich, Project Executive Denny Mangum, Senior Project Manager Jon Barrett, QA/QC Manager Joel Hall, Superintendent Chris Tortora and Assistant Project Manager Mark Dixon; Duke University Project Manager Sally Curtis; and MIS Project Manager Mitch Bunn
Not only are experiences like this a chance to step away from our jobs and have fun partnering with clients, they may also help inspire some future construction professionals!
