R&R Engineers – Surveyors, Inc., a Denver-based land survey and civil engineering firm operating primarily in the Rocky Mountain Region, recently completed a two-day mentoring and teaching initiative with the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus (CCIC). The event afforded students the unusual opportunity of learning exactly what happens when surveyors and engineers work a construction project.
On December 10 and 11, 2019, R&R Engineers – Surveyors, Inc.’s President Tony Smith, PLS, Survey CAD Technician Kevin Bene, and two Survey Crew Chiefs Florian Duerselen and Josh Moorehead, visited the campus and guided students through R&R-created stations that included:
Station 1 – Students experienced the basics of surveying in order to help understand the principles behind it. Students learned how to carry elevations from one point to another using a level and a measuring rod.
Station 2 – Students experienced a math station where they used trigonometry, a tape measure, and a high tech protractor to derive the location of a missing building corner.
Station 3 – The final station was a culmination of Stations 1 and 2 and students were allowed to use today’s equipment to illustrate how technology is used to streamline the construction process.
“In today’s society, there is a lot of pressure on kids to come out of high school and go straight into a four-year program in college,” says Bene. “This activity with CCIC was an opportunity for these young adults to explore a career path that may not require a degree.”
The CCIC is a stand-alone college and career preparedness facility accessible for high school students in the Cherry Creek Schools District. With curriculum rooted in real-world skills and trade certifications ranging from the computer sciences to aviation to health sciences, the facility offers students a new kind of bridge to college and viable, successful careers.
“The time the CCIC students spent with R&R truly changed their outlook on their paths for the future,” says Mike Degitis, CCIC Skills-Trade Math instruc
“Many of these children will go to college,” says Smith, “and many will not. Many learn a skill in order to attend and pay for college. CCIC and R&R’s efforts earlier this month allowed young people to discover non-college-degree skills which can lead to a great and fulfilling career.”
The Cherry Creek Innovation Campus is geared toward students who:
1. Want to go to college. These students are looking for concurrent enrollment or dual enrollment opportunities to earn credit towards a college degree. These students could also be looking to learn a skill set or trade to help pay for college.
2. Want to go right into the workforce or military after high school. These students want to learn a skill set or trade that will make them more competitive for career preparedness.
3. Are unsure of what they want to do after high school.
This initiative was the inaugural collaboration between R&R Engineers – Surveyors, Inc. and CCIC. Similar events are planned for the future.
