The Copper Country ISD – CTE Construction Tech program was happy to welcome Marty Fittante, CEO of InvestUP, to the program’s recent advisory committee meeting. InvestUP oversees the BuildUP (https://www.investupmi.com) initiative that includes a collaborative partnership with the CTE Construction Tech program’s new home builds. The primary purpose of advisory committees for all state-approved CTE programs is to serve as a resource and a connection to the workplace for CTE teachers, administrators, and students.
Alecia Aho, a Senior at Hancock Central High School and second-year student in the Copper Country ISD - CTE Construction Tech program at the Career Tech Center in Hancock, as well as a CTE Work-Based Learning student placed with Moyle Construction, gave Fittante a tour of the program’s CTE home build at 602 Oaklawn Drive in Hancock. Alecia also provided Fittante a demonstration of the software technology being used on the CTE home build jobsites this year in partnership with Digs | AI Software for Residential Home Builders (https://digs.com/).
Fittante commented at the program’s advisory committee meeting, saying, “The Copper Country ISD’s – CTE Construction program home build and subsequent sale in Houghton this past year was the first success story of the BuildUP collaborative with a CTE program and was a phenomenal way to get things started off. Now we have CTE home builds happening in Hancock and L’Anse here in the Copper Country, as well as in Escanaba and Manistique.”
The use of new technology in construction materials and equipment was also discussed at the advisory committee meeting; in particular, the CTE Construction program’s partnership with Digs and how it is being used to streamline communication between student leaders and the program’s local industry partners. Braun Rosenlund, Co-owner of Bay Electric and the CTE Construction Tech program advisory committee chair, discussed how Bay Electric recently gave the Digs software a try by working with student Alecia Aho to communicate about and map out the wiring schematic within the software.
The Copper Country ISD – CTE Construction Tech program (and other CTE programs) is open to students from Houghton and Keweenaw County high schools who are building in the City of Hancock, as well as students from Baraga County high schools who are building in the Village of L’Anse.
