Students in the Lanier High School construction management program will be showing off their carpentry skills at the 2020 San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, the largest single event in the city of San Antonio. With more than 2 million visitors last year, all eyes will be on the Lanier students and their work.
A group of eight seniors make up this year’s practicum class, and they will be constructing four 8' x 8' hospitality booths over the next four months. The class is part of the Engineering Institute at Lanier, which prepares students for high demand careers in San Antonio and beyond. The booths will be located throughout the Rodeo’s grounds and the high school’s logo will be prominently displayed.
“The rodeo is partnering with us so that we can showcase Lanier’s construction students’ skills,” said Mr. Trevino, Lanier High School construction management master teacher. “This project gives the students a chance to collaborate with a large entity and reinforces the skills that they have learned these past few years.”
According to Trevino, the collaboration aspect with outside agencies is extremely valuable because it gives them a taste for what they will experience once they begin in their chosen career field.
“This is a real project with a real deadline,” Trevino said.
SAISD Foundation Board Member Tony Magaro, who also serves on the board of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, saw an opportunity for collaboration between the school and the rodeo, and the SAISD Foundation was able to secure $10,000 in funding for the project.
“I met the principal and master teacher at Lanier and was impressed by their can-do, student-focused approach in launching such a unique collaboration between academia and a nonprofit organization,” said Magaro.
While the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo gains brand-new hospitality booths, the students gain mentorship, guidance from local professionals, exposure, and, of course, hands-on experience.
Though the actual building of the structures is a large part of the project, senior Adrian Uribe says he is looking forward to the construction management experience he is gaining form the project.
“Although it is fun working with your hands and such, for me the part that is most exciting is the managing skills,” he said. “For example, when you start on a project, you don’t really think about the scheduling but this is one thing we are looking in to. We only have a certain amount of students here, and in order for us to be efficient, we have to communicate and be able to take notice of who is going to be here and who isn’t. That will really impact our timeline.”
Between planning out days off for holidays, testing and student conflicts, the team also has to consider the time it will take to deliver the structures to the rodeo where MacArthur High School students will outfit the booths with electrical systems. After the booths are outfitted with the electrical components, Lanier students will attach the walls and roofing on-site.
“It may seem like a lot of time between now and February, but when you put it on paper, you don’t have that much time,” said senior Dominico Aguero. “We only have two class periods a day to get work done. We have to manage our time.”
Before starting construction, the class met with representatives from the rodeo to look at the elevations for the booths, as well as make a materials list with the cost-breakdown for each booth. The students ordered all the necessary materials from Home Depot, and began construction in mid-October.
Joy Brown, chairperson of the rodeo’s Hospitality Committee, meet with the students in September and said she was impressed with their interest and dedication to the project.
“When we met, they all leaned in, listening to the presentation and asking really pointed questions about the project,” she said. “I am so excited to be getting Lanier and SAISD involved with the rodeo.”
To learn more about the Engineering Institute at Lanier, click here.
