Students build skills, employment prospects in masonry class

Credit: Max Oden / moden@dothaneagle.com

Two students enrolled in the masonry program at the Dothan Technology Center work to build a room out of cinder blocks Tuesday afternoon.

By: Jim Cook | Dothan Eagle
Published: September 01, 2010

Masonry class is a workout for the mind and body.

Students in Jocquette Carroll's masonry class at Dothan Technology Center had to do some intellectual heavy-lifting by visualizing and laying out a brick storage building without a blueprint, but that wasn't the end of the exercise. Students also had to construct the building, picking up, stacking and leveling 20 to 50 pound blocks.

Carroll said the exercise helped students get a taste of real life situations they might be faced with in the masonry field.

Carroll said in many masonry projects, such as mailboxes or building small storage rooms, masons don't have a blueprint to follow, and must plan out the project in their heads.

Eugene Cousins, 17, has been in Carroll's masonry program for two years and likes the hands-on nature of the lessons he learns there.

"You can actually look back and say, 'I made that,' he said.

Cousins said the class is intellectually challenging because of the planning and attention to detail that goes into projects in the class.

"It's fun, you work hard," 17-year-old John Coleman said.

Carroll said students from his masonry class can go directly into a career in masonry. Carroll said he's working with a national certification program to further enhance his students' employability after they leave his class. Entry level masonry positions can pay from $15 to $20 per hour, he said.

Carroll said there are currently many job opportunities in commercial masonry because of the many building projects currently ongoing in Dothan. Carroll said commercial masonry work has been largely dominated by out-of-towners, with locals more involved with residential masonry. Carroll said he hopes to change this by turning out more local students prepared to take on commercial masonry work.

Students build skills, employment prospects in masonry class

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