November 23, 2005 10:00 AM CST

Instructors Review MCAA Training Series

By Melissa Polivka

In October in Charlotte, North Carolina, the MCAA partnered with the National Masonry Instructors Association for a two-day curriculum review of the MCAA's Masonry Training Series manuals. Our goal was to update the content of these four volumes to fit today's students' needs and the current needs of the industry. Reviewing over 500 pages of material during these two days was intense, but the results will be extremely beneficial for the Association and industry.

During the review, the five instructors examined our Masonry Training Series (originally produced in 1995) page-by-page, making updates, edits and additions. Although not much has changed in the essentials of masonry for hundreds of years, there are new technologies and terminologies that students need to be educated about. Based on the feedback from the instructors, we will be making many changes to the books' content, as well as rearranging some of the curriculum's order, and potentially adding supplements. A revised edition of the Masonry Training Series should be available in the summer of 2006.

This meeting was also an excellent opportunity for MCAA to get insight from instructors "in the field" as to the state of recruitment and education within our industry today. The Association's Workforce Development Committee may be looking into adding materials to the Training Series that address employability skills and other needs that the instructors felt they were lacking.

The MCAA would like to thank the sponsors of this event, Mortar Net and the National Concrete Masonry Association, for contributing the funds to make this high priority project possible. We would also like to thank the instructors who participated for donating their time: Jim Fryer, Eugene Johnson, Alonzo Lewis, Max Randolph and Milton Young.

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About the Author

Melissa Polivka spent time as the Director of Marketing, Director of Membership, and Director of Workforce Development for the Mason Contractors Association of America.