Architectural Resources for Primary School Teachers
As you look for new and fun things to do while kids are out of school, here are some resources. These were created a few years ago, but I think it is still relevant.
Here are several architectural coloring books with houses. Just download the pdf and print out the pages you want to color. Click the link here: Architectural Coloring books
Want to challenge your student with new vocabulary? Here is a list of Green Terms Defined.
Have a young one learning shapes – get them to find the shapes in these architectural photos: Architectural Shapes
15 Week Architecture Construction and Engineering Course
When I was in Charlottesville I taught a 15 week course to introduce high school students to the construction industry. Here is the syllabus for the program. ACE Mentor Program Design Challenge
Class Activity – Draw this room to scale
Gather supplies of a ruler (or any straight edge), graph paper (paper with squares on it) and a pencil, or a pen if you are desperate.
With the paper on the table, use your
FEET and measure out the length and width of the room where you are located by
walking from one wall across the room to the other side of the room.
Using the squares on the paper, where one square equals one footstep, mark the paper, and use the ruler to make straight lines. This is NOT easy for some people, so make sure that you are using the straight edge to make straight lines and ask for help if it keeps getting messed up.
Origami House
Build and decorate a quick house. Make a few and you can have a small village full of Origami Houses
Our friends at NEED.org always have cool resources. Here is a list of Distance Learning Resources that are hands on. NEED.org
If you know of links I should include, let me know by adding to the comments below.
Charles Hendricks was named a top home construction expert in 2020. This is the fourth year in a row that Mr. Hendricks has been included on this list.
The annual Top 200 Home Construction Experts, presented by Fixr, is a prestigious list that recognizes excellence and innovation in the home remodeling and construction industry. Fixr employs a rigorous methodology to assemble this exclusive compilation of industry visionaries, based on innovation, expertise and influence in the industry. Fixr’s methodology analyzes each expert’s social media and online presence, awards and recognition received, and overall industry contributions.
The list includes home remodeling and construction experts in construction, architecture, publishing, and other related fields. “Inclusion in this list is a testament to the professional achievements of each expert,” said Yuka Kato, industry analyst at Fixr. In an industry constantly evolving based on environmental concerns, new smart home technologies, an aging population, and many other outside influences, “these experts have specialized and stayed relevant, and their efforts and accomplishments deserve recognition.”
By earning a spot on this list, Fixr confirms that Charles Hendricks has shown creativity and exceptional prowess in the home remodeling and construction industry, and Charles Hendricks’s professional efforts have advanced the field and shaped industry trends going forward into 2020.
About Fixr
Fixr is a home improvement resource with the mission of helping consumers make the best remodeling decisions. Fixr provides unbiased, thorough and updated cost guides, price comparisons, and cheat sheets for hundreds of remodeling, installation, and repair projects. When the homeowner is equipped with the necessary knowledge, Fixr helps connect homeowners with the best matches in their area to begin their home improvement projects.
For the complete list of the Top 200 Home Construction Experts, visit fixr.com.
Join us for a SWEET Pints for Polio event at the Harmony Square Dairy Queen located at 1755 Virginia Ave. Harrisonburg, Va. This event is a fun way to treat your family and support Rotary in their fight to eradicate Polio worldwide. Just show up and buy dinner and a medium (PINT) blizzard for everyone in your entire family and bring your friends too!
Harmony Square Dairy Queen has generously offered to make a donation based on % of sales between 5pm and 8pm on October 22. Lets fill their restaurant and enjoy doing good in the world together.
Polio is a crippling and potentially infectious disease. It is caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis.
Harmony Square Dairy Queen is located at 1755 Virginia Ave, Harrisonburg, VA 22802.
History of Rotary
Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business professionals in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is non-political and non-sectarian organization open to all people regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, or political preference.
Blogging and Social Media use for the Construction Industry is an interesting topic for me that continues to evolve in how I see it. Social Media in our industry is brand new to some even today, a waste of time to others, and old hat to many. I used to do presentations on how to do social media in our industry years ago to help builders create an online brand. I was thinking about how I use Social Media this week a few different ways. What is Social Media etiquette? What blogs do I need to write? How personal should I be on my blog that has been in existence for 10 years – can I change direction on content? Am I adding to the noise in life or adding value with my blog and monthly newsletter?
Earlier this week at our Rotary meeting someone mentioned in passing that they followed me on Twitter. They were required to start an account for their job and don’t really use it, but followed me since they know me. He also mentioned that he was impressed that I have so many followers. It was an interesting comment since I don’t have many followers on Twitter compared to many that I follow. When I started my Twitter account ten years ago it was a lonely place – not many locals had heard of it or were using it. I basically used it to read the morning news subscribing to specific sources for the stories I wanted to hear. It was a way to filter information for me. Deb Van Horn and I used to have Tweet-Ups locally where we would invite the dozen or so local people we knew on the platform to lunch through the platform. It was a fun way to get to know people that we had only met virtually in some cases. Ten years ago Twitter was for me a calm place with the ability to create groups and build relationships. Now it seems there is simply too much information there to ever feel caught up leaving me not to use it as often or as much. Twitter’s growth locally reduced the usefulness for me somehow.
Facebook for me started as a way to connect to friends from the past. I eventually started a business page and now manage a couple of non-profit pages as well. The platform continues to change the way information is shown reducing the free views for businesses. It is a struggle for me to keep the pages all fresh with interesting content knowing that FB is throttling the views because I am not paying to “boost” them. However, it seems you must have a Facebook account as much as you need to have a website to be in business.
The amount of information that is available through blogs and social media can be or IS overwhelming. How you use those pages to benefit your business continues to evolve. For me there are questions that need to be asked on a regular basis to understand your audience and stay relevant. Where do you look for trusted and manageable amounts of information in the Construction Industry? How can you digest and share the right amount of information to stay relevant? How much should you share from your experience?
I have been doing online marketing for 10 years now. I have worked hard to stay authentic, build trust, and to stay relevant. My blog posts range from projects to building science to personal life stories. I have built a brand that people recognize in our community. I have readers and supporters of my work across the country. It is gratifying to see the work pay off. However, I continue to wonder how to improve. What should I write about next? How can I get better? Is there a better way of doing this online work? Am I being a good citizen online, in the construction industry?
It is that time of year again, The Rock Rotary annual Car Raffle Party! Get your tickets for the Rock Rotary party supporting local non-profits today! This annual event is hosted at JMU’s Bridgeforth Stadium Club Levelon February 23, 2019 from 7:00 pm – until. The event benefits several local non-profits that do great work in our community including First Step, Generations Crossing, and The Rotary Foundation. Your donation of $150 provides one pass to get into the party and one chance to win a 2018 Ford Fiesta Hatchback while helping your community. This must attend party includes an vast spread of food and drink along with some of the best networking in the valley. Join us this year for a special scale Soap Box car race event. Just send me an email or call for your ticket. I would love to see you there.
First Step: A Response to Domestic Violence believes that all people have the right to live without violence or the fear of violence. This organization is dedicated to empowering survivors of domestic violence through support and education. First Step says abuse is not always physical. Threats of violence, destruction of property and / or pets, name calling, humiliating you in front of family and friends, putting you down – all of these things are abuse. Abuse is not caused by alcohol. It is not caused by stress. Abuse happens when one person seeks to hold power over another. First Step supports people who are living with violence or the threat of violence in their lives.
Generations Crossing‘s mission is to provide high quality, innovative adult and child care for our ethnically and economically diverse community. Unique to this program is an opportunity for adults and children to develop meaningful relationships with all ages within their loving, inter-generational setting.
The Rotary Foundationtransforms gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. This foundation enables our club to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. This fund supports our local club’s grant program that has in recent years supported a grant for On the Road Collaborative, Big Brother Big Sister, and Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation.
So get your ticket as soon as possible before they are sold out. This event allows you to help three non-profits, attend a great party, and gives you a chance to win a new car!
At this year’s banquet I was given the Community Champion award by the Harrisonburg Rockingham Chamber of Commerce. It is humbling to get recognized for something that others are doing more and better than you. There are so many in my life that give their time to good and deserving causes, organizations, and movements and do it more and better than I am able. There are many that I know that have made their life mission service to others. There are many that give so much more than I am capable or willing to give, each of them volunteering for a better community.
I am fortunate to work for and now own a business that for the past 31 years (20 of which I have been part of the organization) has made serving others a primary focus. In fact, everyone in the business has a cause they are passionate about from church to civic organization to animal rights to law enforcement to education to soccer to women’s rights. I am surrounded by people who get life through giving to others in time, money, and talent. So to get recognized for the little I do is greatly appreciated. Just to be nominated by one of the hardest working business leaders in our community is an honor in itself. I so appreciate the circle of support I have in this industry and community.
Volunteering for a better community, in my opinion, is the only way we are going to achieve just that. We cannot wait on regulations, laws, or politicians to make it happen. We each need to reach out to a brother or sister and help them up that next step. It can be as simple as a smile to warm a dreary day or it can be joining an organization like Rotary to magnify your efforts around the world. You could join an organization likeShenandoah Valley Partnership with the idea that a rising tide raises all boats and work to build an even stronger economic future for the valley. Maybe your passion is for Harrisonburg’s downtown, you can join, volunteer, and support the efforts of HDR as they support the healthy growth of our downtown community. Want to make a lasting impact – offer to provide job shadow opportunities for a student at Harrisonburg High School– just contact Bethany and she will set you up. Want to share your passion with a larger group of students, check out the amazing work being done by On the Road Collaborative. If you think technical education is important, find ways to support Massanutten Technical Center through sharing time, donation, or talents. Like to bowl, consider helping Big Brothers Big Sisters of Harrisonburg-Rockingham County by bowling for kid’s sake. If you want to support local music, Red Wing Academy is one of the best I have ever experienced for instrumental knowledge and the Shenandoah Children’s Choir for vocal musical talents. There are so many opportunities to help, we have started putting links to organizations we love hereto make it easier for you to find them. It does not take a lot of effort to make a huge difference, from wearing pink to swinging a hammer, there are lots of opportunities to do good in this community.
Thanks to all that do so much to build a better community, especially to those that offer kind words and gestures of support like taking time to write a nomination or just reaching out on a gloomy day!
