School is ideally a place where students acquire the skills they will need to make them successful throughout the rest of their lives.  While that includes many concepts that can seem abstract at the time—critical thinking, analysis, group work, organization, problem solving, geometry—the Construction Combine gives students a way to directly see those concepts in action as they work together to construct a set of sheds which are then presented to Idaho veterans. 

The Combine, spearheaded by the Continuing Education Workforce Training (CEWT) program at Idaho State University, is made of a large number of moving parts, including contractors, sponsors, leaders, volunteers, businesses, and students.  This year, a number of those essential parts came from Malad, along with other schools in Southeast Idaho.  There are two main goals for the Combine, according to its organizers—to honor veterans, and to provide an opportunity for students considering entering into the construction field to get hands-on experience with the processes and skills involved.  Over the past years, it has also been a rare chance for interested students to make connections with potential employers looking for motivated and interested potential employees.

“They said that every year there are people who end up with job offers because of this combine,” student Mordecai Charles said, a sentiment that was echoed by organizers and contractors alike.  Charles and four of his classmates (Jefferson Buttars, Kendan McCullough, Hunter Allen, and Beth Schardine) were brought to the combine by MHS teacher Kami Willie, who had heard about the event and thought it sounded like a fun idea.

Willie stated: “I attended a training session at ISU where [CEWT’s] Paul Dickey talked about the combine, and I thought it sounded interesting.  The kids all seem like they’re excited about it so far, and I’m very hopeful that next year we’ll have even more kids, now that we have our feet under us and know what it’s all about.”

Like many people, Willie wasn’t exactly sure where she planned to go, career-wise, when she was still in school.  “When I was in high school,” she said, “you graduated and went to college, and that’s just what I did.  I didn’t know what I was going to do, I just knew that was the next step.  And I think now I tend to push them to look and see all the things that are out there that they might not have even thought of.  That’s always my hope.”  

For those involved in the combine, some of the things students “might not have thought of” are exactly the jobs that employers are currently seeking to fill.

“I think that sometimes the kids forget how important the trades are,”  Willie said. “They said ‘of ten people that work in the trades who retire, they are only replaced by two.’  Sometimes they don’t realize that those options are out there for them.  They were pleasantly surprised by how much they learned on Wednesday.  Plumbing was a big one, concrete, and they really liked the
roofing too.”

The approach seems to have worked, as the students expressed an interest in pursuing the trades that had been introduced to.  “My hope is to be able to educate them about as many opportunities as possible,” Willie said.  “My job is to throw as many possibilities for jobs to them as I can so that they know what it out there.”

During the first day of the combine, students rotate through a series of stations where they get some hands-on experience with a variety of construction tasks, including operating equipment, pouring concrete, flooring, roofing, and so on.  The sessions work like a real-time training laboratory, and give the students a chance to ask questions of people who have been experts in their field for years. 

After a stay in Fort Hall at the Shoshone-Bannock hotel, students get down to business the next day and start building the sheds, which were designed by CEWT instructor Steve Quinton. 

Each student was given a bucket full of tools and equipment, and then divided up into randomized groups and assigned a lead builder who was in charge of directing them through the construction process for the sheds.  Throughout this process as well, students had the opportunity to ask questions about the construction tasks involved, as well as network with many of the potential employers on hand.  The busy parking lot area was a hive of activity, as students all worked together to prepare and put together the solidly built sheds that would eventually be moved by Denny’s Towing to the home locations of the veterans’ homes.  

Caribou County’s Dave Pristupa is the primary point person for the veterans’ part of the program.  As a result of his efforts,12 veterans were on hand at the combine to receive new sheds, built and finished by students from around the region.  Each shed is also outfitted with a plaque created by students from Gooding, and topped with a flag pole.  

The veterans themselves represented many of the branches of service, and spanned from a number who served during the Vietnam era to those from the more recent Global War On Terror.  Each of them was presented with a commemorative plaque, and thanked for their service by the assembled group including Pristupa and Quinton. 

This was the first year for many of the participants involved, including those from Malad.  Schools around the southeast Idaho area were contacted by CEWT’s Annie Harrison-Quinton, who visited many administrators and presented the idea to them as a way to involve their students in a unique and valuable training camp.  Those who attended universally praised the effectiveness of the program, and its relevance for future career paths.

“Another thing about the trades that’s kind of neat,” stated Philip Paxton of community revitalization organization NeighborWorks, “is that plumbing, electrical, mechanical, those kind of trades are going to be the last jobs that are replaced by robots and artificial intelligence.  They’re probably some of the safest bets right now because that trend is huge and growing.”

Veterans receiving sheds this year included Army veterans Vincent Sanchez, Douglas Broncho, Enoch Houtz, Daniel Curr, Justin Hensley (also an Air Force vet), Jonathan Wescott, Jeffrey Gakkardi, and Tom Chopski; Air Force veterans Nathan Broadhead, Jonathon McKnight, Mark Jeffrey Brewer; and Navy veteran Jeffrey Hull. 

The CEWT team at the Combine included Raelyn Price, Annie Harrison Quinton, Steve Quinton, Shirley Hockett, Nikelle Morrison, Paul Dickey, Megan Cleveland, Katy Dafoe, and Angie Wilhelm. 

Lunch was provided by the Grub Slingers food truck from Rigby.