The Rotary Club of Akron had the privilege of listening to Donald Obermeier, from the Akron Chapter of the ACE Mentor program during our Tuesday February 8th meeting.
Click to view the club meeting and presentation or copy and paste this link into your browser https://youtu.be/Y3ZOQi9t-jc
What is the ACE MENTOR PROGRAM?
The Akron chapter of ACE has been in existence for four and a half years. The Akron/Canton ACE program has approximately 50 students currently enrolled in their program. The ACE Mentor Program of America (ACE) was founded in 1994. ACE is a free, award-winning, afterschool program designed to attract high school students into pursuing careers in Architecture, Construction and Engineering industries, including skilled trades.
ACE is a federation of more than 75 chapters, operating in 38 states and Canada, and largely based in metropolitan areas.
At a national level what does ACE do?
- Over 10,000 students participate annually, drawn from approximately 1,450 high schools.
- Most ACE students (69%) are minority, and over 40% are female.
- One-quarter of ACE seniors entering college are first generation students.
- More than 4,100 volunteer industry professionals mentor student teams through a 35-hour-long simulation of designing and constructing a project.
- Approximately $2.5 million in scholarships are awarded annually to high school seniors and alumni studying to pursue industry-related careers.
- ACE also offers students summer camp and internship opportunities.
What is the ACE Mission?
To engage, excite, and enlighten high school students to pursue careers in architecture, engineering, and construction through mentoring and continued support for their advancement into the industry.
What are ACE’s Primary Goals?
- Help build a large, diverse, and better-prepared workforce.
- Prioritize engaging students and communities traditionally underrepresented in the industry.
- Assist and guide students by providing scholarships, internships, and mentoring as they pursue career pathways into the industry.
What are the Core Values of ACE?
- Inclusion – We will nurture and value the diversity of backgrounds, identities, talents and beliefs of each individual involved in our program.
- Collaboration – We believe a spirit of mutually beneficial collaboration will produce the greatest results and maximize our volunteer and fiscal resources.
- Excellence – We aspire to deliver the highest quality and most impactful mentor program and commit to approach our work with fairness and honesty.
How does ACE work?
- ACE is made up of affiliates(chapters) serving local communities. Each affiliate has a board of directors, program leaders, and a number of student teams. Average teams are composed of 15-25 students and led by their volunteer mentors who are professionals from the build industry.
- Each team is set up to emulate an actual design team, with students guided through a mock design project by their architect, engineer, construction management, and tradesperson mentors.
- Mentors assist the students as they work towards a final project, introducing them to the careers, industry vocabulary, and various roles companies play in the construction industry.
- ACE runs during the school year, with each affiliate setting their own schedule. The teams meet for approximately 15 sessions, for about two hours after school, usually on the same day each week. The Akron chapter meets every other week.
- The meetings are held either in schools or at the offices of the firms to give the students as authentic an experience as possible. It is the students’ responsibility to get to each ACE session. ACE makes every effort to select meeting locations that are convenient for students.
Why ACE?
Besides all of the reasons stated previously, ACE exists because of the shortages in workers in the areas that ACE is concentrating on. By providing these programs, ACE hopes to recruit desperately needed employees, but also provide diversity in the careers identified. Minorities and individuals from underserved populations are significantly underrepresented in the design and construction industry workforce. ACE helps address this problem.
To learn more about the ACE program and how you can get involved, check out their Akron website at www.acementor.org/affiliates/akron-oh or www.acementor.org
Yours in Service -
Terry Dalton
Rotary Club of Akron Secretary & Scholarship Chair
