Dee Davis (00:30)
Good morning and welcome to the Management Under Construction podcast. I'm your host, Dee Davis. Today we are going to talk about something super cool for the construction education community. What we have coming up is called NEF Block Kids Competition. What this is, is a competition like no other. It happens simultaneously across the country and it happens this month in January.
There's going to be some acronyms in this episode, but don't worry. I'll define each one as we go and we're going to provide some help for you in the show notes in case you have to refer to it later. Block kids is an annual competition that is so much fun and it really serves to bring attention to our industry by introducing youth to critical and creative thinking skills. Not to mention working with your hands to create.
In order to talk about NEF, we have to talk a little bit about NAWIC. NAWIC, in case you didn't know, stands for the National Association of Women in Construction. But don't worry, this competition is not just for girls. This is for everybody. NAWIC is just what it sounds like. It's an organization that focuses on women in the construction industry. But NEF,
the NAWIC Education Foundation is for everyone. NEF is a nonprofit that provides construction education and opportunities for kids K through 12. It fosters and promotes the construction industry as a viable career choice for students. And NEF offers numerous certification programs for adults in the industry. Now I'm on the board of trustees for NEF and I have to tell you when I joined,
I was pretty new to NAWIC and I knew even less about NEF, but it promotes construction education. So I was all in. Since joining the board, I've learned a lot more about it and I've had the opportunity to participate in some of my local chapters, Block Kids competitions and review some of the materials for NEF courses. And I've been very impressed. It is important to note that NEF certification programs are certified by ACCE.
There's another acronym for you. ACCE is the American Council for Construction Education. And all of the professional development is certified by them. So it's reviewed by professionals in the industry. So it's not just NEF that thinks that this stuff is pretty cool. It's highly recommended adult education, but we'll talk about that a little bit more later. Block Kids is a national building competition for kids kindergarten to sixth grade.
It introduces them to construction careers. At the local level, competition is hosted by either a local NAWIC chapter or an individual sponsor. That could be you. The kids are all given a group of approved materials to work with and are tasked with creating something construction related without the help or guidance from any adult. Each participant has no more than one hour.
to complete their task. The materials start with a set of interlocking microblocks, think Legos, and up to three items provided by the sponsor, things like rocks, string, paper, or maybe some foil. Think of like cake boss, only with kid stuff. The chapter or sponsor will provide adult judges that score based on criteria and compliance with the rules for the competition.
Each participating group chooses their own competition date, but it's all in the beginning of the year because entries must be submitted to the regional chair by February 15th of each year. Local winners go to regional, then they go on to national. I'm a member of the Denver Metro chapter 112 NAWIC and in competition year 2023, 2024, we had one of our kids, a second grader, win first place at nationals. We were so proud.
Block Kids started in the 1980s. The exact year is a little unclear. When Irma Lamison, a member of the Greater Mississippi Gulf Coast NAWIC chapter held the first competition in Biloxi, Mississippi. Irma shared her idea with other chapters and guidelines were written. And the idea of a national competition was presented and adopted in the 1989 NAWIC convention. I had a great time at last year's event at Denver chapter 112, and we'll be attending again this year.
There's tens of thousands of kids that participate each year from hundreds of chapters. And it's an incredible experience to participate in your own chapter and see how incredibly creative these kids can get, even at a very young age. Our second place winner last year was one of the youngest kids in the competition. I believe she was six. You might be thinking, hey, Dee, is this competition for everyone or just girls? it is through NAWIC, but it's for everybody.
Our chapter had participation from boys and girls alike last year. Hey Dee, is the competition dominated by boys? In our chapter last year, we had a close to 50-50 split. So bring your boys and your girls. Hey Dee, what if I can't participate this year? How else can I help? NEF is a 501.3c charitable organization. So lucky you, all donations and sponsorships are tax deductible.
Hey Dee my kids are younger. Isn't the prizes always gonna be won by the older kids? Not necessarily. The younger kids really surprise us with their level of creativity and attention to detail. Some of these kids, especially if they participated before, are so excited about participating again that they plan for weeks in advance of the competition what they're gonna do this year. Hey Dee, can kids get disqualified for not following the rules? Yeah, they certainly can.
Each sponsor gets a set of rules to follow and their winners must be in compliance with the rules or they will be disqualified. This is a fun and fair competition. In 2026, the Denver Metro chapter and the San Diego chapter are holding their competitions on Saturday, January 31st, but other chapters might be on different days. Check your local NAWIC chapter for details. Every event needs volunteers, participants and sponsors.
You don't need to be a NAWIC member to do any of these things. It's not too late to sign up. Most chapters will take kids right up to the day before the event unless they're already full. There is a cap on how many kids can participate in each chapter, somewhere around 40 or 50. The chapter gets to make that decision. If you're interested in hosting a block kids competition in your area, visit the NEF website, www.nef-edu.org.
and click on K through 12 in college to find the Block Kids rules, guidelines, submission template, and more. If you're interested in checking out NEF's industry education, including topics like construction drawings, back in the day, we used to call these blueprint reading. This is one of the most requested classes in the industry, and NEF has done a fantastic job putting this together.
There's also one called Construction Industry Specialist or CIS, which is a really comprehensive overview of the industry, how it works, vocabularies, how-tos, the basics of the industry. It covers topics like contracts, administration, bidding, estimating, specs, drawings, project delivery methods, and even construction economics. It's very valuable for someone new to the industry. There's another one called ESP or Estimating and Scheduling Practitioner.
This is valuable for anyone who's already in the industry and wants a deeper understanding, or if you're new to the industry and you're interested in these fields. There are others that you can look into as well. Check out their website at nef-edu.org for more information. These classes are open to everyone. You do not need to be a NAWIC member or anything else. If you are in the industry or you're interested in the industry and you want to deepen your knowledge,
These are some great topics to do it with. If you are looking for custom tailored educational experience, that's when you're going to call me For customized construction industry education that meets you where you are, contact me at Yellowstone Professional Education. You can book a free consultation using the link in the show notes or find me on LinkedIn for access to my booking link for your free consultation. Thanks and we'll see you next time.
