In June of this year, BuildBlock was able to help Dolese Bros Co. in sponsoring a portion of the Mid Del Technology Center’s Summer Tech 23 for masonry students. The purpose of the week-long training camp is to promote early interest in masonry and other trade programs offered at Mid Del. This camp covered all sorts of basic masonry skills and gave students a hands-on opportunity to learn how to build with masonry as well as will be instructed in the skills of estimating materials, blueprint reading, managing a job and conducting job interviews. 

At the camp, BuildBlock’s Russ Nicely and Zach Easley from Dolese Bros Co., led the ICF part of the program with classroom teaching and hands-on instruction. Russ and Zach taught students the fundamentals of ICFs, how they’re used, and how they’re installed. For the classroom section, Russ educated students on what ICFs are and how they’re used. They also used the classroom time as an opportunity to teach students about some of the differences and benefits of ICF construction compared to other types such as CMU and wood construction. For the hands-on portion of the program, students were taught how to cut and stack ICF blocks to form walls, while given instructions on how to pour concrete into the walls.  

The masonry program offered at Mid Del is designed, with the help of Dolese Bros Co., to give students free education and equip them with skills necessary to jump right into their field after completing the course. As the only masonry education course in the state, Mid Del offers a source of trained masons to meet the needs of builders in Oklahoma.