A Clear Construction Career Path

St. Louis Commerce Magazine, Nov 01, 2006 by Baer, Jim

Dominic Gardner, 19, is well on his way to a high-paying job in the local construction industry. Gardner, who lives on the near Northside close to Newstead Avenue and Delmar, graduated the from Career Construction Academy in 2005 and has a fulltime position with the Metropolitan Sewer District. In fact, MSD has an investment in Gardner. They pay up to $3,500 of his tuition each year to attend St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. He attends Forest Park on a part-time basis as a freshman, taking core courses in algebra and English.

Gardner can see the forest for the trees. He has a career path in mind, and is willing to invest his time and effort to get there. He has an eye on an undergraduate degree, either from Washington University in St. Louis, or the University of Missouri at Rolla. His long-range goal is becoming a full-fledged civil engineer.

And why shouldn't he?

Both good with his hands, and solid in math and science, he is applying himself to the work that he seeks. He works 40 hours per week as a vector truck operator for MSD. He is part of a two-man crew that uses flex hoses and aluminum pipes to clean MSD inlets throughout the city and the county. He likes his work. "I like working for MSD. The people are nice, the work environment is good and they pay my college tuition," he reasons.

When Gardner enrolled at the Construction Career Center in 2001, he had 200 classmates. By the time he graduated four years later, there were just 35 left in that original group. "A lot (of students) left, and others just didn't make it," he says.

To make matters worse, there is a crying need for young tradesmen in construction, especially among minority candidates.

Gwen Crimm, career counselor at the charter school helped Gardner to sign on with MSD. "He (Dominic) has been a standout employee with MSD. He represents a very good setting point for our program," she states. When asked to recommend an outstanding graduate for work with MSD, Gardner became the obvious choice.

Gardner has been involved with interesting projects through his educational training. He and a fellow classmate had to design a bridge on a computer-based cad system, coming up with the sturdiest structure and the best cost. "We did okay," he says, breaking out a broad smile.

For now, Gardner is considered an apprentice with MSD. He's been on the job a year and day, and after two years, he has the opportunity to go into the CSOT program (collection system operation training).

"My approach to work and to school is that I take each one day at a time. I try and take advantages of all the experiences I can get and learn the skills of my trade. I guess you can say I've been applying myself."

Days of approaching education seriously got started in the St. Louis Public School System. Moving around, he attended Dewey, Cote, Shenandoah and Peabody Elementary Schools and graduated from the Ralph Bunch Middle School for International Studies.

His on-the-job training has been extensive. He's already studied electrical and carpentry work and he's built homes for the Habitat for Humanity project.

"My goal simply is to become a civil engineer. I like to work on the auto-cad systems, and I've been exposed to a tot of construction theories. He figures by his mid to late 20s, he should be well on his way. Distractions have been few. Most of his .peers are following similar career paths and they encourage one-another to hang tough and stick with the challenges of their programs. He'd like to stick with MSD as a fully-trained professional.

A wise person certainly would not bet against him becoming a big success as a civil engineer in the highlydemanding construction industry. Check out a major construction job site down the road, Dominic Gardner just may be the guy who is running the whole show.