next step in Build California’s ongoing mission to engage and activate the next generation of construction workforce, according to Yuhi Aizawa Combatti, di- rector, workforce development for AGC of California. “In the last year through Build Califor-


Students presenting their work at the Northern California summer camp.


getting hands-on experience with real tools and working on actual projects – it made everything feel real and exciting,” said Bruzzone, a rising high school junior at St. Francis High School in Sacramento who attended the Northern California camp in June.


“I learned a lot about how much


teamwork goes into construction, and I also realized I’m more confident and capable than I thought,” she added. “I’m leaving camp with a better idea of what I might want to do in the future, and now construction actually seems like a path I could see myself taking.” Another camper, Gabriel Hernandez,


a 16-year-old going into his senior year at Rancho Verde High School, said that connections and networking were among the many highlights that stood out from his attendance at the Southern California camp in July.


As a member of the Career Connec-


tions by Western States Carpenters, a pre-apprenticeship program designed to introduce high school students to the carpentry trade and prepare them for a career in construction, Hernandez


was extremely engaged and proactive in making connections with the speakers and participants. Leaving the camp, his eagerness to join the carpentry trade only grew.


“Te most impactful part of the camp for me was the networking aspect. I feel really secure with my career since I now have people who I can go to if I ever need help or guidance,” he commented. “What I learned about the construction industry was that it’s a lot different and organized than it looks. Construction really isn’t all about boots on the ground but it’s more about the work that goes on behind the scenes.” Hernandez added, “I also learned that


I truly belong in this field of work because, since the first day of camp, everything was interesting to me, and I felt so motivated to go into this field of work. What I will take from this is experience is the people I know and the connections I now have.”


Activating and Engaging the Next Generation The newly launched Build California Summer Camps embody the natural


nia, we’ve really doubled down on ways to engage with students and expose them to the construction industry outside of the classrooms and schools,” Combatti said. “So it was a natural progression for our program to create this truly immersive experience outside their schools that would offer them the space to explore construction careers in an intensive and intentional way.” Te two camps, held at Sacramento’s Cosumnes River College in Northern California this June and at Santa Ana’s Samueli Academy in Southern California in July, each drew a total of 19 rising 11th and 12th graders from more than a dozen high schools in their regions. Students spent five full days at the


camps engaged in a robust mix of activities that included team-building projects, career readiness workshops, interactive sessions with industry professionals, mentorship sessions, and jobsite and trades training center tours, to name just a few, enabling participants to explore a wide array of construction career paths up close. At the conclusion of each camp,


participants presented a final project in front of their fellow campers, proud family members, Build California staff, and, at the Southern California camp, nearly a dozen industry professionals who attended.


Collaboration Continues Although camps are now concluded for 2025, the collaboration continues. Build California is providing each camper with a full year of “career mapping” services that


CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTOR SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025


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