One of the most rewarding parts of construction is inspiring the next generation of builders.
Yesterday, Dav-Lin, LLC team members Bender Middlekauff, Killian Quilty, and Justin Gartner had the privilege of hosting more than around 100 First Coast YMCA summer campers during STEM Week in the recently renovated health living center. We started by teaching the campers how the Brown Family YMCA Airnasium in Ponte Vedra is being built from excavation and concrete to steel, engineering, and the teamwork it takes to bring a project to life. Then we walked them outside to see the Airnasium under construction firsthand.
The highlight of the morning was our Marshmallow Tower Challenge. Before anyone could touch a marshmallow or wooden sticks and toothpicks, each team had 2 minutes to plan their structure just like developers, owners, architects, engineers and contractors do before construction begins. They then had 5 minutes to build the tallest freestanding tower they could.
To make it even more authentic, we tested each tower using structural steel washers that will be cast into the concrete footers as part of the new Airnasium. The towers had to be standing with the weight of the washer to qualify, and we crowned a winning team. It was incredible to watch the campers collaborate, solve problems, adapt their designs, and cheer each other on.
Seeing so many curious young minds asking questions and making the connection between STEM and the real world was a reminder of why opportunities like this matter. A huge thank you to the First Coast YMCA, Cara Roach, and Marcie Gallagher and the Thingamajig Invention Convention for inviting us to be part of such an outstanding program.
We’re proud to build facilities that strengthen our community and even prouder to help inspire the engineers, architects, tradespeople, and builders of tomorrow.
