Category Archives: Project Blueprint

Project Blueprint

BGCFW: Welcome back to our Project Blueprint training!

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Our 2022/2023 school year will be filled with new and exciting learning opportunities!

Cassie Carlson, Rick Sparks and Logan Bowling from Tonn and Blank Construction started us off with an awesome carpentry and construction project to build wall and floor panels. The lesson included teaching the kids to make accurate measurements, introduced them to using a Miter Saw to cut the wood and hammer & nails to construct the walls. The kids embraced the challenge and worked together to complete their projects. Thank you Tonn and Blank Construction for your preparation and time on this project. We also wish to thank our volunteer helpers from Amazon and the FWCS Career Academy students, your help makes all this possible.

Article submitted by Sheri Tatman, Fundraising & Marketing Manager

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS of NORTHEAST INDIANA

2609 Fairfield Avenue

Fort Wayne, IN 46807

Phone: (260) 744-0998  Ext. 133

Email: statman@bgcfw.org

Project Blueprint

BGCFW Project Blueprint Update: Thank you for an amazing year!

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Chris Roberts, friends and student volunteers ended the Project Blueprint year with a mixture of projects for the kids.

After creating candy machines at the academy last week, the kids were exposed to additional basic carpentry including a power tool and pounding nails with a $300 hammer. Additional basics of electricity and plumbing as well as a masonry project at the Fort Wayne Community Schools Career Academy masonry room were also part of the learning experience.

The club wishes to thank all of the volunteers in each of the building trades, our friends at FWCS Career Academy and our donors and sponsors for helping this past year to show our members pathways to better futures. They really nailed it!

It’s been an amazing year and we will see you all back here in the fall.

Article submitted by Sheri Tatman, Fundraising & Marketing Manager

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS of NORTHEAST INDIANA

2609 Fairfield Avenue

Fort Wayne, IN 46807

Phone: (260) 744-0998  Ext. 133

Email: statman@bgcfw.org

Project Blueprint

BGCFW Project Blueprint Update

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LaVar Brewer along with Romeró Roméro from the Plumbers and Steamfitters 166, created an exciting and informative Project Blueprint for our members at their training facility. They provided a detailed tour which included: a welding room; a model 2-story home exposing the frame structure showing the set-up for water intake and drainage; a 5ft deep sand-pit to demonstrate how pipe is laid below the frost line to prevent freezing, and the HVAC training lab. The club members, utilizing skills learned in prior training lessons with LaVar, were able to use a blow torch to solder copper pipes together and reviewed the processes used to clean and cut various pipes. Thank you LaVar and Romeró for this excellent training session filled with so much information. We also wish to thank Kent Prosser and Les Zimmerman who helped create a positive and energetic environment for our members.

Article submitted by Sheri Tatman, Fundraising & Marketing Manager

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS of NORTHEAST INDIANA

2609 Fairfield Avenue

Fort Wayne, IN 46807

Phone: (260) 744-0998  Ext. 133

Email: statman@bgcfw.org

Project Blueprint

BGCFW Project Blueprint Field Trip

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The Project Blueprint group recently visited the Ironworkers Local 147 training center with instructors Ron Andrews and Joe Stracte. The group started off with a tour of the facility showing the kids the types of equipment the Ironworkers use. After securing them in the proper safety equipment, the kids were taken up in the lift to get the feel of working at heights which is sometimes required on a construction site. The kids were shown how metal is bent and shaped using a “Coupon“, which is a raw piece of metal using a 500° flame. In the hands-on portion members, using an 1800° flame, cut metal along a straight line and learned how to properly position their body and arms to accomplish this. They wore safety jackets, goggles, and gloves under close supervision while performing the task. Their goal was to make straight, smooth cuts with the torch and our kids did remarkably well. Thank you Ron and Joe for your expert teaching.

Article submitted by Sheri Tatman, Fundraising & Marketing Manager

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS of NORTHEAST INDIANA

2609 Fairfield Avenue

Fort Wayne, IN 46807

Phone: (260) 744-0998  Ext. 133

Email: statman@bgcfw.org

Project Blueprint

BGCFW Project Blueprint Update

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Ron Anderson and Joe from the Ironworkers Local 147 taught our club members 6 knots that every construction worker needs to know. Each one has a unique purpose in the construction world and it’s important to know when and how to use them. They started with the Square Knot, secure and stable and used to tie 2 ropes together.  The Clove Hitch, stays secure and does not slip, used to secure a rope to a post or tree. The Bowline, creates a loop at the end of the rope that won’t shrink or expand. A Bowline on a Bike, similar to the regular Bowline except it’s in the middle of the rope. The Figure 8, creates a stopping point in the rope. And finally the Sheet Bend, this knot is used to join two ropes of different materials or thicknesses. The club kids loved learning to tie all of these and even added an extra one to the lesson, the Lasso. Not used in construction, but loved by kids everywhere.

The Ironworks also gave the club members a lesson in reading a tape measure and why it is important to know the value of each line between the inch marks.

Thank you Ron and Joe for working with our kids this week.

Article submitted by Sheri Tatman, Fundraising & Marketing Manager

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS of NORTHEAST INDIANA

2609 Fairfield Avenue

Fort Wayne, IN 46807

Phone: (260) 744-0998  Ext. 133

Email: statman@bgcfw.org