Detroit

About Us

ACE Mentor Program – Detroit teaches high school students from the Detroit public schools about careers in architecture, construction and engineering, as well as related building professions and trades. Guided by industry professionals who serve as volunteer mentors, students work in collaborative teams on projects that simulate actual building industry situations. The result is a practical opportunity for students to learn what industry professionals do and how they develop their ideas from initial concept to finished facility.

Our Team Projects

In 2006-2007, three student teams from seven Detroit public high schools pursued a variety of approaches to a single goal. The project description asked each team to assume that an anonymous donor had generously given $9 million to the A. Philip Randolph Career Technical Center.

Using this hypothetical budget, students were asked to design a new state-of-the-art recreation center that would benefit the community, students and faculty. In addition to construction site visits and other field trips, the students created computer-assisted design drawings, hand drawings, PowerPoint presentations, models and other materials to support their ideas.

They also considered such specific issues as wheelchair accessibility and “green” solutions. The program year concluded with project presentations to a three-member panel, an event that simulated a professional client meeting. In addition, we awarded three $350 scholarships that had been donated by Turner Construction.

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.