TEEX and Prairie View A&M team up to prepare students for highway construction jobs

COLLEGE STATION – Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) and the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) collaborated on the Texas Construction Career Academy for the third year to prepare students for new careers.

Hosted by the PVAMU Office of Continuing Education, the two-week program helps prepare participants for jobs in the highway construction industry. TEEX provided training in backhoe operation, worker safety and OSHA construction standards, which qualified the participants to receive an OSHA 10-hour card.

PVAMU spearheaded the project and provided participants with training about job applications and interviewing skills, as well as personal finance, and hosted a job fair. Most sessions were held at the PVAMU Northwest Houston Center.

Hands-on backhoe training was conducted by TEEX Instructors Billy Williams, Lanny Pipkin and Phil Barnes at the TEEX Infrastructure Training & Safety heavy equipment training field on the Texas A&M RELLIS Campus in Bryan. The 10-hour OSHA class was conducted by Luis Villanueva.

The Construction Career Academy is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration and administered by TxDOT.