As part of Beck | Envision’s ongoing commitment to pouring back into our community, we are continually seeking opportunities to inspire the next generation of young leaders to consider the field of construction as their career of choice. With this in mind, our team did not hesitate to partner with the Northwest Florida Chapter of NABWIC, the National Association of Black Women in Construction, Inc., when presented with the opportunity to be a sponsor for their Construction Summer Camp; a 10-day design competition with a focus on revitalizing East Tampa.
This Construction Summer Camp provided 8 youth, 4 boys and 4 girls between the ages of 10-18 years old, the opportunity to be exposed to architecture by being charged with the design assignment of revitalizing a home in their East Tampa neighborhood. To design, the 8 youth teamed up in pairs of 2 to recreate their own version of a 1,500 square ft. home, and worked side-by-side using an architecture design software to complete the work.
When interviewing one of the youth on his experience during the summer camp, he simply stated that his experience was “Amazing”. He explained that the summer camp made him rethink architecture as a career, and when asked what was one thing he would take away from this entire experience, he responded, “Architecture is not such a bad idea. People made it seem like it was too hard to learn and not worth it, but I actually had a lot of fun! Plus, the money; I never realized what kind of money architects made.”
The NABWIC Construction Design Competition summer camp had an amazing way of opening the eyes of our youth and shifting their perspectives on what a career in construction could really be like. It’s opportunities like these that help to shape the minds of the next generation of construction leaders, and we at Beck | Envision are honored to have supported such an initiative.