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ANTHONY DAVIS, DAVIE COUNTY
SCHOOL SYSTEM’S NEWEST
DIRECTOR OF CTE AND FEDERAL
PROGRAMS COMMENTED: “THE
SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 IS ONE OF
THE LARGEST CULMINATING EVENTS
OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN THE
COUNTRY. THIS WAS AN INVALUABLE
OPPORTUNITY FOR DAVIE COUNTY
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO JOIN HIGH
SCHOOLS FROM ACROSS NORTH AND
SOUTH CAROLINA TO LEARN ABOUT
MASONRY IN THE WORKFORCE.”

Student mason Israel Ramirez said, “As the
competition went on, I relaxed more and had
fun. Winning wasn’t the point. It was one of
the best experiences I’ve had at Davie and I
now want to pursue masonry further.”

His tender, Trent McDaniel was right beside
Multi-channel communications provides the reach and engagement necessary to reach the world.
him during the 20 minutes. McDaniel said:
We can pump up that student career interest competition. It was the perfect introduction “I learned that quality work was the goal. I
by working closely with the leaders of key before taking in the SPEC MIX BRICKLAY- thoroughly enjoyed the experience of the
associations like the IMI, MCAA, NCMA and ER 500 North Carolina Regional contest that competition and more importantly the chance
NCCER to advance innovation and address showed these aspiring bricklayers the skills to talk with industry professionals really
the industry’s needs for a strong future. and pride of professional masons coupled makes me want to pursue this as a career now.”
with the support provided by producers and
We especially want to support masonry suppliers. Counting students, masonry indus- These are exactly the type of educators and
educators by presenting the trade in a positive try representatives, teachers, school and other young people who are the future of our trade
way that gets students excited about picking government officials, as many as 1,000 people and we need to communicate to them that
up a trowel. were in attendance. Masonry has a lot to sell itself. We need our
senior masons to partner and support all
If we can get the students and their The North Carolina SMBL500 regional the variations of masonry training and assist
parents excited we can get the school campaign alone received more than 13,000 educators in passing on their all-important
administrators excited, that will lead to vital video views on SMBL 500 Facebook page masonry experience before they retire. This
education partnerships that will help Masonry that week. Compared to previous years, knowledge transfer to the next generation is
meet its workforce training goals. This will that number shows a promising rise in the vital to a trade skill and will keep Masonry
take an effort by all to partner to meet the popularity of the event. Social platforms healthy and vibrant for decades to come.
challenge of building those mentor allow SPEC MIX to connect far beyond the
relationships with their national, state, contractors and dealers who help support and So don’t wait, get involved in your area, join
regional and local education providers. host the events. It took a lot of hard work, your associations, contact your education
communication and partnership to produce centers and create partnerships. Offer to start,
A fantastic example of this type of communi- support or mentor a student masonry educa-
cation is the partnership building with numbers like this and the results speak for tion class or an institutional training program
masonry professionals, educators and students, themselves. and support students or mason apprentices
that took place in North Carolina this year. any way you can. Give back to Masonry and
Ryan Shaver, the NCMCA’s Workforce join us in getting word out to the world today.
Development & Training Coordinator, MASONRY IS A GREAT CAREER!
organized a very successful Carolina Masonry
Education Day in November that brought over
450 students from 27 high schools out for
a day of masonry tutorials and demonstra-
tions, and a miniature SMBL 500 a student

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