A section of St. Charles Mall was blocked off with yellow tape last weekend as 42 construction workers wearing hardhats placed brick upon brick and put finishing touches on their work.
The construction project wasn’t a renovation of the mall. Instead, this was the Block-Kids Contest, co-sponsored by Aurora Chapter No. 169 of the National Association of Women in Construction and the Fox Valley Construction Industry Advancement Fund.
The construction workers were 1st- through 6th-grade students who were given 100 interlocking plastic blocks each and their choice of three other materials, including string, aluminum foil, construction paper, rocks and polystyrene foam.
Contestants had one hour in which to design and build a structure such as a house, office building or bridge.
As they sat at long tables lined with blueprints, the children built and rebuilt, paying close attention to detail.
Subcontractors (otherwise known as parents) were not allowed to help. They stood outside the yellow-taped area. Edgar and Sherry Dionisio of North Aurora waited patiently, watching the work of their three sons, Michael, 10, Elliott, 9, and Alex, 7.
This is the third year Dionisio children have participated. Although Michael had won in two previous contests, this wasn’t his or his brothers’ year, but his father said he thinks the contest is a great idea. “It helps them use their conceptual abilities,” he said.
The purpose of the contest, said Debbie DeLeon, the president of the Aurora chapter, is to promote awareness of the construction trades. “We want kids to become involved and interested in construction,” she said. “There are a lot of different jobs out there.”
Fifty-dollar savings bonds were awarded to the winners in each grade. Scott Huybaert, a 6th-grade student at Lowrie School in Elgin, won the overall competition for his electrical power plant. He used string for the electrical wire.
His entry was photographed and will be entered in the national competition. The national winner receives a $2,500 savings bond.
John McKevitt of Elgin helped judge the entries for the third straight year. “It amazes me what some of these children do, especially the 1st and 2nd graders,” he said. “They show a depth to what they are doing and that catches me by surprise.”
