3 Metal Fabrication students learning the importance of inspection.
Summary:
The Trade School continues strong with simultaneous classes.
New products coming from the Metal Fabrication Team.
Community Development moves forward even during difficult times.
Metal Fabrication Level 1 Re-launch
The trade school made a big push in February to relaunch Metal Fabrication Level 1. A big thanks goes to our staff for their hard work and dedication that ensured week one ran smoothly and was a great experience for the three students attending.
From top right:
The students get hands on experience with Oxyfuel, setting up and properly shutting down equipment and learning how to adjust a flame for heating or cutting.
Students continue work on the class project, measuring and cutting pieces for the bench.
Cius practices making a cut.
Project work - cleaning pieces for the bench
Youwens and Gregory introduce the students to wire welding with demonstrations of GMAW and FCAW-S.
The students tack-up and weld their coupons using stick welding, checking high-low alignment with an undercut gauge and a 1/8" electrode to evaluate the root gap.
The students learn the importance of inspection, how to read a weld specification and use measurement tools. Below, examining a groove weld for defects and documenting their findings on an inspection report.
Masonry Level 1
Fifteen students also started a Level 1 Masonry class on campus at the same time as the Metal Fabrication class.
English Classes
English classes kicked-off this month and they are progressing well. Thanks to our improved Internet service, it is being taught remotely by Kender through streaming video, with the campus team joining in the classroom. The first few classes, held twice weekly, were focused on English fundamentals and daily life conversation. In recent weeks, they have progressed to lessons on construction tools and equipment. A handful of enthusiastic students have begun meeting outside class in the mornings to practice speaking.
New Satellite Campus
Extollo and Haitian Holistic Alliance (HHA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding this month, paving the way to establish an Extollo training program on the HHA campus in Northern Haiti. HHA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of orphaned, abandoned, and impoverished children in Haiti by helping them become happy and successful members of their communities who will have the tools to positively impact future generations. Please pray as conversations continue and as details are worked out.
Concrete Furniture
What can we do with concrete? That’s a question we ask ourselves quite often, and the answer is always something different and new that makes us think out of the box. The team has been learning a lot about the broad applications of concrete – including furniture.
The team recently began working on two concrete furniture designs - a concrete bench and picnic table.
Metal Fabrication
This month, the Metal Fabrication team cut all the sheets required for the Tilt-Up house siding. The team also finished fabricating forms for both the concrete bench and picnic tables, a crucial step forward in this process.
Expanding Knowledge
New to the Extollo team, Construction Coordinator, Vladimyr, joined the Masonry class to learn how reinforced concrete is taught the Extollo way.
Train the Trainer
We're grateful for Assistant Trainer, Jethro, the newest addition to the masonry training team, who is a natural teacher and engages well with students.
Guard House Project Planning
After receiving drawings for the new guard house on campus, the team immediately started to work on all the planning for this project. They worked on material take off, plan reading and translating those drawings to the real world by placing batter boards and making on-site adjustments to fit the site conditions. It was quite an experience, that again, tested our communication skills by the combination of on-site and remote work.
Community Bridge Project
The Construction team continued to make progress on building and installing a metal bridge to replace the unsafe wooden bridge over a large trench in the Bercy community. The Extollo team is using this as a learning experience, as the process of measuring, preparing, fabricating, pouring anchors, etc. for a bridge is new for us. It was great to see the community get involved mixing and carrying the concrete.
Women In Construction
In honor of "Women in Construction" Week, we shared a few stories of some of the amazing women who make up the Extollo team. If you missed it, make sure to check it out here.
