Education: CCSN program `builds' future for students

Joe Bonebrake is well aware that construction industry people are needed in the Las Vegas Valley. That's why he educates as many of them as possible, although very few of them from scratch.

For six years, Bonebrake has taught construction classes at Community College of Southern Nevada, educating and molding individuals for many types of positions. Using the dry erase boards and student desks at the William and Dorothy Raggio High Tech Center, located off U.S. Highway 95 and Decatur Boulevard, Bonebrake and two part-time instructors teach six to eight classes per semester.

Students completing the required classes can attain an Associate of Applied Science degree from the program.

His classes average about 30 students, most of whom have already logged some time in the construction field. Bonebrake himself worked in the industry for 30 years before devoting his time to teaching.

"I would say the average age of my students is probably in the 30s," he said. "And overall, they have a great deal of experience in certain areas of construction. That's one of the things that has made the classes so interesting. Getting them to share that experience, along with mine, makes for some very, very good classes."

Bonebrake's curriculum emphasizes three areas. One is learning the cost of a construction job, the second focuses on the administration and management of construction, while the third is estimating how long it takes to complete a job.

The courses address estimating, law and contracts, equipment, materials and methods, management, planning and scheduling, and documents.

"Ours is a `generalist' approach to look at the overall project instead of focusing on one small piece of it," he said. "We can cover a broader scope than what most people are involved in.

"For example, I had one student, a year or so ago, who manufactured door components. When it came to door costs, he knew them better than I did. But that was the limit of his knowledge. In the classes, we cover a much broader range than that."

Some of Bonebrake's students have gone on to become assistant superintendents, he noted, while others have become assistant project managers and assistant estimators.

Tonia Sulick, 30, is working on advancing in the field herself, and benefits from the program's wide range of subjects, since she works as a construction administrator at Harris Consulting Engineering, and aims to broaden her construction savvy.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Sulick moved to Las Vegas in 1997 because she saw numerous opportunities in her career path, and a chance to eventually attain her bachelor's degree in construction management and engineering.

"I am in construction management and it allows me to take information that I'm learning at school and apply it to my work environment," Sulick said. "We deal a lot with construction documents, and right now I'm taking classes in contract law and construction management. Because of my experience with Joe (Bonebrake) and my experience with other people in the class, I'm able to deal with these types of things more quickly, accurately and efficiently.

"My employer is more than happy with the situation. He is a very big promoter of my education and he wants me to use it and have it so that it works for him. It's a win-win situation for CCSN, my employer and for me."

Sulick particularly enjoys the beginning of Bonebrake's classes, when he asks his students, "What's going on this week?" It is a cue for them to share their current project with their fellow scholars. One may be working on a hotel, while others may be busy with an office building or some other job.

Once again, Bonebrake's students learn from each other as much as they do from him. Per the same teaching model, once a semester, each of his students also makes a presentation to the class on any aspect of construction.

"Joe's structure is wonderful in that he helps the students and he's not strictly textbook," Sulick said. "He relates the classes to the real world working environment, so we can take our classroom experience and enter it back into the working world. He's actually helping us become better in what we do."

Frequently, Bonebrake also has his students gain experience with Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit dedicated to providing affordable housing. The organization gains donated manpower, and students, in turn, gain experience.

Next semester, Bonebrake will expand the program to accommodate the many nuances of the industry, which has changed over the years.

"As construction becomes more sophisticated, people need to know more than just how to finish concrete," he said. "It's a very rapidly growing and developing industry, and we try to keep up-to-date in the classes that we offer."

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