Emily M. O’Mahoney, FASLA, Host Chapter Co-Chair & Ebru Ozer, ASLA, ACE Legacy Project

ACE stands for Architecture Construction Engineering and is a national mentor program.  Information can be found at:  https://www.acementor.org/

ASLA has taken on doing an annual ACE Legacy project in the host city of the annual conference.  ACE has been working with ASLA volunteers for years.  Please see the information about great ACE Mentorship program below.  The typical ACE Mentorship program is a club that follows the school year and is held at the high school with a school liaison and practitioners in architecture, construction and engineering.  Typically, the contractors lead the way in starting and running a high school group.  They rely on the design professions to help develop the projects taking the students through the typical processes of inventory, analysis, schematic design etc.  Each year there are 3 projects that each club can pick from and tackle.  Each club can compete on the national level or the local level. 

I am starting my 4th year with my Dwyer High School team under Kast Construction.  We compete locally against 6 or 7 other teams from two counties.  It has been amazing to see these students grow.  We have a lot of fun.  It always amazes our guest speakers how our team could pull together and win first place as we did last year after a stunning presentation.  I was not surprised!  I knew how this group works.  They research and (conceptually) design the selected project, create construction budgets and schedules and always address green solutions.  And they have 10 minutes to present to a jury of judges so spit and polish are necessary!

An ACE Legacy project is different though can be part of the national mentor competition.  ACE Legacy is a project which it to be built, not left on paper.  We are working on a 2-year school schedule.  Ebru Ozer, ASLA, FUI Professor, has accepted the Chair of the ACE Legacy program.  It got underway shortly after school started.  The Miami area only has one club at the Coral Park Senior High School.  This is a club which actually has drafting and AutoCAD, something my students don’t have.  I am really looking forward to what they produce!  You can see what Ebru has already accomplished.  Her spring schedule will be out soon so that I hope all the local firms and individuals will donate time to guest speak and sponsor a session.  The Host Site is Liberty City Elementary, a site and population truly needing of our expertise.  Ebru has already held one charrette with the high school ACE students and the elementary students.  Look for the next one…..we ALL want to be there to support the event!

Big picture goals:

·        Design completed by May 2020
·        Design will be in LAM showing how vendors can be green and not ship their stuff back home but leave it in Miami to execute the ACE Legacy project.
·        Specific requests sent to vendors
·        Three-minute VIDEO shown at General Session with over 6,000 attendees (Oct. 3, 2020)
·        Host Chapter volunteers pick up the leave behinds from the Expo and put it in storage (October 5, 2020)
·        Host Chapter works for other needed material or labor to execute the design – (note:  Chapter must pay for the project above and beyond any donations)
·        Through several work days, ACE Students, Elementary students and Chapter members build the design with help from vendors.
·        Produce another 3-minute video to show at 2021 in Nashville of the construction and finished project.

Please contact Ebru Ozer eozer@fiu.edu to sign-up and help.  There are lots of opportunities.

ACE - Architecture, Construction, and Engineering

Overview

 Founded in 1994, the ACE Mentor Program of America (ACE) is a free, award-winning, afterschool program designed to attract high school students into pursuing careers in the Architecture, Construction and Engineering industry, including skilled trades. ACE is a federation of more than 70 affiliates (chapters), operating in 37 states and largely based in metropolitan areas, which deliver the program.  A national office coordinates and assists affiliates.

Over 10,000 students participate annually, drawn from approximately 1,100 high schools.
 The majority of ACE students (69%) are minority, and one-third 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.

Impact

• More than 70% of ACE seniors annually enter a skilled trades program or college with an industry-related major. 
•  Large majorities of students report in surveys that as a result of their ACE experience they:
  • Felt more motivated to attend college
    
  • Learned skills and knowledge not taught in their classrooms
  • Gained useful information about the design and construction industry. 

Awards

• The Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring which was presented at the White House. This is considered the nation’s most distinguished award for mentoring.
•  Two awards from the American Institute of Architects, one for collaborative achievement and the other for diversity.