NEGAUNEE, Mich. (WZMQ) – It was the 2024 Construction and Welding Skills challenge, and quite like any competition or real-world site, crews had to work together as a team to get the project done efficiently and correctly. “The playhouse structure that’s immediately over here is what each one of these teams are competing to build,” commented Upper Peninsula Construction Council Executive Director Mike Smith.
From 9 am until 3:30, each team has blueprints to form a wooden playhouse while judges are walking around evaluating teams on safety, accuracy and the overall build of the structure.
“These guys pre-build their walls and those guys didn’t they raised their stuff first so their going back and forth right now it’s looking really good,” commented Third Year Apprentice Jonas Christensen.
High School students from 12 different districts throughout the UP were competing together to build one wooden playhouse structure and every detail counts, but that’s not the only competition that took park Friday. Students were also taking part in a welding competition with over 200 inches of steel wire a minute
Instructors mentioned a lot of these students have become proficient in the trades, well before even starting this competition or apprenticeship.
“Some of the kids that compete in this are some of the best constructors in the UP…most of these students are so humble they don’t even know how good they are,” commented Negaunee Training Center Coordinator Bob Biddle. After the competition, each school represented can then take home the built house, showing off their work.
“This is how they compete these construction students maybe they don’t their not an athlete or have some kind of other skill they have this skill this gives them their annual opportunity to shine,” continued Smith.
Although this challenge is a competition, their work done also builds their legacy from just one member to an entire community of workers in the trades.
