On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, fifteen students from Coventry High School's Career Center attended the 11th annual Construction Career Days at the RIDOT Midstate Maintenance Facitility near the Centre of New England. Over 1,000 students from more than 50 technical and high schools throughout the state were in attendance and were able to get hands-on experience in a wide range of construction-related careers.

But before the students from Coventry could try operating construction equipment like excavators and backhoes or use a truck-driving simulator, they worked together to build a shed. The group built the shed from a kit with wood donated by the Rhode Island Builders Association.  

CHS seniors Daniel Meza and Pierre Mollo were a part of the shed-building team. The two said that the best part of the day for them had been working together as a team and seeing what they made, as well as learning new skills and for Mollo, getting a job framing houses.

"We left both sides of the shed open so people could see in it," Mollo explained. "Last year we came here as juniors and did the same thing and built a shed. We used clamps this year. It makes a difference," he said of some of the new techniques he's learned from this experience. 

"And then during the winter we have a project to do in the shop when it's snowing out. We'll go inside and work on the shed and finish it," Meza explained. 

Once the shed is completely finished, it will be donated or sold. 

"They're so happy," Mollo said when asked what his parents think of his potential career as a woodworker. He said he learned how to do some cabinetry in addition to framing.

Once the CHS students finished working on the shed they were able to walk around the expo and check out construction equipment and activities like welding, plumbing, electrical, and bridge building, as well as try on hazardous materials suits.