With the support of the 2023 bond proposal, Utica Community Schools has begun executing projects districtwide with the help of construction management company, Barton Malow.

UCS Career and Technical Education (CTE) students took advantage of Barton Malow’s active, in-district construction site at Rose Kidd Elementary School which will house DeKeyser Elementary students and staff for the 2024-25 school year. Rose Kidd has been used for robotics and other various district uses since it closed in 2010.

“I think it’s really cool,” Eisenhower High School senior Brynn Wegner said. “It has opened my eyes as to how much work actually goes into building a school and renovating it.”

Students from Eisenhower’s CTE Architecture I course and the Stevenson/Ford II High School CTE Construction Trades courses were introduced to the construction field by touring the facility and meeting with Barton Malow team members. Each team member shared their unique background with the students and their role at Barton Malow.

Wegner’s favorite part of the site visit was seeing how everyone had their own aspect of the project they oversaw.

“The students were very engaged and had great questions,” said Barton Malow’s Brent Bohlinger, General Manager for UCS, “they seemed to appreciate the message.”

Bohlinger, an Eisenhower alumnus, recognizes how important it is to get the students onto job sites like the one at Rose Kidd to experience their potential career interests as early as possible.

“That exposure might help them choose which path they want to take, whether that be in management or in the trades; we spoke of the wide variety of opportunities in the design and construction industry with the students,” said Bohlinger.

With the DeKeyser Elementary community temporarily moving into the site at the end of August, Bohlinger and his team have much work left to do, but it is rewarding work at that.

“We build an environment for all students. To see the smiles on their faces when they experience something we helped create – our work may have sparked in one of those children to help them be successful.”