Construction Forum’s 2nd Annual “Yeah I Built That” event hosted in partnership with St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) Northside Empowerment Center at Sumner High School this afternoon was a great success. There were 169 student participants and 18 exhibitors to showcase the trades related pathways in the construction industry. CCDI is looking forward to working with our favorite princi-PAL, Dr. Ronda Wallace, in her new role at Sumner High School and bringing our program fully to St. Louis Public Schools!

Several CCDI Alumni had the opportunity to put the work boots aside and get dressed up to attend Clayco’s 3rd Annual #Juneteenth Fund Celebration this past Saturday at the Palladium.

CCDI hosted our Annual Senior Signing Day yesterday evening at North Technical High School to celebrate the Class of 2023 and the graduating seniors who have signed on to work for local companies in the construction trades. CCDI awarded tool scholarships to help the graduates get started in each of their respective trades, as well as lunch coolers, water jugs and PPE! 14 CCDI Alumni from 2015 to 2022 returned for this special occasion to give the newest apprentices a few words of advice on how to be successful in the trades. We also had the opportunity to recognize a

CCDI hosted our annual Build Our Future Scholarship awards ceremony to celebrate the Class of 2023. This event marked a special program milestone as we not only awarded our largest class of recipients to date with $170,000 in scholarships, but also celebrated our first four college graduates who have secured full-time employment! The graduates were accompanied by program mentors who spoke on their individual journeys, achievements and involvement in the CCDI program throughout their high school and collegiate careers. The ceremony continued with awarding four students the Richard Boyd, Jr. Memorial Trades Scholarship, to continue their education in trades related

Seniors in the Construction cluster at North Technical High School went on their second field trip yesterday to Refuge & Restoration NPO’s R&R Marketplace project in Dellwood brought to life by Pastors Ken Jenkins & Beverly Jenkins. Shout out to the Brinkmann Constructors team for helping to coordinate this experience for the students to meet with several of the MBE/WBE contractors working on the project and learn more about their companies and potential hiring opportunities after they graduate in May! During the visit, they also learned about MiTek and the resources that Midwest BankCentre will be able to provide in

Every Spring, CCDI plans a service project for our students to participate in as a way to engage and give back to the communities we help serve. This year, our project landed on Earth Day… and what better way to celebrate than by planting trees! CCDI students, alumni and volunteers teamed up to plant 10 trees and 40 shrubs at Delmar DivINe! Many of our students had the opportunity to tour this awesome project as it was being renovated and several of our program alumni were tradesmen and women who actually worked on this building. We are happy to see