Portland
About Us
In 2006, a group of local industry professionals founded ACE’s Portland chapter. Their goal was to introduce high school students to the industry’s wide range of vital and rewarding career opportunities. Today, 12 professional firms provide mentors for students from 15 schools within the Portland Public School District.
Students, participating in our program, must have at least a 2.5 grade point average, good attendance, teacher recommendations and two full years of math. They must also complete an interview.
During the course of the program, students engage in 12-15 mentoring sessions to develop one cooperative project, a task that gives them a taste of the teamwork required to create a built environment. The project culminates in presentations to families and friends.
In addition, students are eligible for ACE scholarships, which they can apply toward higher education in a building-related field.
Our Team Project
Stadium Area Restaurant
Fifty-eight juniors and seniors from 15 high schools worked with 29 mentors to create a plan for “developing” this waterfront area.
Students were given a parcel of land between the Rose Quarter stadium and the Willamette River, and asked to create a restaurant for the site. The teams chose widely varying themes and décor, shopped for fixtures, and were forced to do some “value engineering” with the construction management mentors. Participants got, as one student put it, “first-hand hands-on” experience of what architects, engineers, and contractors do to transform designs on paper into buildings on sites.
We also awarded nine scholarships totaling $28,000 for our students.
Participate in ACE!
If you’d like to experience ACE’s challenges, opportunities and rewards for yourself, just contact the ACE leader listed in the upper right-hand corner of this page.
