Date: March 29, 2007

Chaney Enterprises' Hosts Construction & Engineering Career Day

Waldorf, MD-On March 29, 2007 approximately 500 Charles County middle and high school students participated in the Construction & Engineering Career Day held at Chaney Enterprises' Waldorf campus.

Students participated in career day to learn more about career opportunities and technology used in civil engineering and highway construction trades.

Students pre-selected either the Engineering or Construction Trade pathway that they wished to participate in. Timed, interactive presentations were presented on each phase of the development process (planning, surveying, design, structures, traffic, geo-tech, construction management, etc.). All students received a tour of Chaney Enterprises' Waldorf campus.The construction trade students visited the Concrete Batch Plant, Maintenance Facility and Scale-house while the engineering students toured a Mining, Reclamation and Environmental Remediation location.

"I had the pleasure to accompany my students in the construction trades portion of the tour. I, along with our students, found this portion of the tour to be very informative. Our students were actively engaged in learning and also enjoying hands on experiences with some of the machinery. Each station was well manned and the person in charge was willing to answer all questions that the students presented," said Jean Mudd, Career Center Coordinator at La Plata High School.

Some students had an opportunity to construct concrete forms, run a concrete slump test, or finish the concrete. Students then had a chance to climb aboard a piece of heavy equipment, talk about career opportunities available for heavy equipment operators and heavy equipment maintenance in the construction trades industry.

"We were ecstatic to be able to showcase the wonderful career opportunities the construction industry offers. The approximately 500 students who attended Career Day saw just half the challenges, rewards and lifetime of opportunities that our industry provides. I really think that the presenters of Career Day and the teachers had as much fun as the students," explained, Bill Childs, President of Chaney Enterprises.

After visiting the Engineering or Construction areas, participants visited Chaney Enterprises' Training Facility and received information regarding college programs, immediate job openings and spoke to representatives from the Maryland State Highway Association (SHA) and Federal Highway Administration.

Construction & Career Day 2007 was a partnership between Chaney Enterprises, Charles County Public Schools, College of Southern Maryland, Reliable Contracting, SHA, Federal Highway Administration and the Maryland Quality Initiative.