Training Students Interested in Construction Careers

The JINGOLI Live Classroom program identifies and trains high school juniors and seniors who are interested in learning about construction, engineering, architecture and related fields. Through unique partnerships with schools and organizations like the Boys & Girls Club, Live Classroom students are mentored and trained by the JINGOLI team to learn skills necessary in the real world of construction and related trades.

During each Live Classroom session, students meet one day a week for 12 weeks and are mentored by JINGOLI employees who volunteer for the program, covering topics such as drafting, math and safety. Guest speakers from outside organizations are brought in to expose students to a wide range of careers and industries. In addition, they connect our graduates with internships or employment opportunities at JINGOLI or partner organizations.

To date, they have instituted Live Classroom programs in Camden, NJ, Newark, NJ, Atlantic City, NJ, and will soon be in other cities including Detroit, MI. More than 100 young people who have gone through the program have been hired by JINGOLI or other contractors.

Live Classroom Newark

JINGOLI partnered with Central High School in Newark, NJ, working with students in the Live Classroom program. As part of the program, the four young men showcased the skills they learned by turning a shipping container into a shelter that could be used during emergencies or natural disasters.

The transformed shipping container, named “Help in a Hurry” (HIH), was designed to be used during emergencies as a self-contained home that could help inhabitants survive “off the grid.” It includes solar panels, air conditioning and heating, plumbing, furniture, emergency supplies and food, all within an 8’ x 8’ x 20’ shipping container.

Those same Newark students, who have gone on to college and internships in the trades, are now working closely with the Jingoli team on other shipping container projects and are exposed to other experiences that will help them develop professionally.

In August 2017, they traveled with the JINGOLI team to meet with members of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino's design team, who have partnered with JINGOLI on a new hotel and casino in Atlantic City. While there, they participated in planning meetings for the new hotel/casino and gave a presentation on their “Help in a Hurry” shipping container project.

Because of their success and drive, these four young men are mentoring other students who are participating in JINGOLI Live Classroom shipping container projects in other cities.

PSE&G/JINGOLI Live Classroom

PSE&G asked JINGOI Live Classroom to help them institute a training program through Essex County College. The program is preparing students for positions at PSE&G, and focuses on skills needed to pass the Construction and Skilled Trades (CAST) test—including Graphic Arithmetic, Mechanical Concepts, Reading for Comprehension and Mathematical Usage. CAST is a standardized employment test given by individual utility companies.

During the last two months of the program (Spring 2018), students will turn a shipping container into a laundromat for West Side High School in Newark, NJ. That laundromat will be used in the high school as part of their curriculum for teaching life skills.