School nails nationwide building competition

14 September 2006

Raglan Area School nail nationwide building competition

Raglan Area School are the reigning Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) Build-Ability Challenge champions for their innovative dog kennel which the judges said illustrated all aspects of the design and build process. The BCITO Build-Ability Challenge, supported by Mitre 10 and Pink® Batts®, is part of Building Careers Week.

BCITO Building Careers Week has taken place this week (11-17 September 2006) to raise awareness of the building and construction industry as a positive career choice for young people. Raglan Area School’s winning dog kennel is currently on display at Dinsdale Mitre 10, Hamilton and will be donated to the Waikato SPCA next week. Tauranga Boys’ College was highly commended in the competition for what the judges called a technically clever, yet simple and sound kennel design.

The Tauranga Boys’ College kennel is presently in-store at Mitre 10 MEGA in Tauranga and will be handed over to the Tauranga SPCA shelter. BCITO Marketing Manager, Rachel Winter, says “The BCITO judges were impressed with both the school teams’ comprehensive “Records of Work”.

The documents detailed the entire construction process, from the brainstorming stage, to planning and finally the construction itself.” “The students thoroughly enjoyed working as a team on the project, meeting the needs of their “client” and working within budget constraints. It is a real-life work situation which is valuable learning experience for them,” Raglan Area School technology teacher, Dennis Robbins, says.

BCITO CEO Ruma Karaitiana believes one of the many positive aspects of the Build-Ability Challenge is that it helps strengthen the bonds between schools and local community groups, like the SPCA. The BCITO judges commented that all 15 entries in this year’s BCITO Build-Ability Challenge were of an extremely high calibre and every participant should be proud of their achievements. For more information, to arrange a school visit or an interview please contact:

ENDS

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