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Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | life@gainesvilletimes.com
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gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, November 9, 2018
High school students from around the region participate in the Northeast Georgia Workforce Development Alliance Lanier College Career Academy’s Daniel Llamas cleans up the
Skills Challenge Thursday, Nov. 8, at the Chicopee Woods Agricultural Center. joints in a small wall Thursday, Nov. 8, in the masonry challenge.
‘It’s fun to use
the power tools’
Students weld, lay bricks, read blueprints
and more in contractors’ skills challenge
BY LAYNE SALIBA
lsaliba@gainesvilletimes.com
The sound of saws buzzing,
hammers banging and seri
ous competition were in the
air. Nearly 200 high school
students from North Geor
gia gathered to compete in
a skills challenge Thursday
morning, all hoping to win
prizes for their efforts in dif
ferent trades.
The Associated General
Contractors of Georgia hosted
the event that has grown over
the years while Carroll Dan
iel Construction and Bowen &
Watson Inc. provided judges
for each event.
“One of the things we’re
suffering from is a declin
ing workforce,” said Mike
Dunham, CEO of Associated
General Contractors of Geor
gia. “So our challenge as an
industry is to show young men
and women a career path of
how they make a great career
out of construction... the best
way to do that is through skill
competitions like this where
they can practice their trade
and experience what it takes
to build something.”
Students competed in
everything from welding to
masonry, plumbing to car
pentry, electrical and even
blueprint reading. For the
most part, the judges said stu
dents did well.
The students competing in
blueprint reading were look
ing at a blueprint of a church.
They were given a 100-ques-
tion test, asking about the
layout and design of differ
ent parts of the church. The
plumbing competitors were
roughing in a sink while the
masonry competitors were
laying brick to build a small
wall.
The carpentry competitors
were framing a four-foot wall
while the welding competi
tors had to cut a triangle with
a torch and also weld two
pieces of metal together.
Nate Halsey, 16, a 10th-
grader at North Hall High
School, said he’s been weld
ing for as long as he can
remember.
“I race for a living, and I
want to build my own chas
sis when I get older, like roll
cages,” Halsey said.
On the other side of the
agricultural center, Brandon
Velazquez, 17, and Marlon
Sanchez, 17, both 12th-grad-
ers at Flowery Branch High
School were preparing to
compete in the carpentry
competition. They both said
they weren’t nervous to com
pete because they have expe
rience after working with
family.
Even though they said
their school cut its construc
tion class recently, they still
wanted to compete.
“It’s kind of fun,” Sanchez
said. “And it’s fun to use the
power tools.”
Not everyone at the compe
tition was taking part, though.
There were observers, there
to see how their friends were
doing. That’s what Chris
Mojica, a lOth-grader at Ches-
tatee High School was doing.
He said he wasn’t inter
ested in any of the things
going on at the skills competi
tion at the moment, but may
be in the future. He’d like to
try his hand at electrical work
as opposed to masonry like
his friend, Eli Domingo, was
competing in.
“It seems more fun and
more hands-on,” Mojica said.
“And my grandpa, he does
pretty much everything like
this basically.”
Brian Daniel, president
and CEO of Carroll Daniel
Construction, said there was
nothing like the skills chal
lenge when he was growing
up, so he’s happy to see some
thing like it now. He said it’s
all about getting students
interested in the construction
industry and showing them
it’s a job worth having, even if
getting that across to them is
difficult.
“It’s a particular challenge
to get young people inter
ested,” Daniel said. “But for
kids that have the aptitude
and interest in this type of
thing, this is a great opportu
nity for us to expose them to
what we do and hopefully get
them interested in doing this
for a living.”
Although he enjoys watch
ing students compete in all
the different activities, he
said there’s one thing he likes
above all else.
“The draw is watching
these kids enjoy it,” Daniel
said. “Watching the smile on
their face, watching them
compete and watching them
put their hands on this stuff
and really have fun with it,
that’s why we’re here. ”
Above: North
Hall High’s
Nate Halsey
cuts a piece
of metal with
a torch in
the welding
competition.
Left: Johnson
High freshman
Amy Loera cuts
a board in the
cabinet making
portion of the
competition.
For beautiful, healthy plants, don’t neglect their root systems
When we look at a plant, we
think of what we see above ground:
leaves, vegetables, fruit, berries,
flowers, etc. Not many people want
to see what is happening below
ground level, but that is such an
important part of all life that it
needs to be discussed.
Root systems are probably the
biggest component of what makes
plants work. The root system of a
plant has a big job: to feed the stems
and leaves with water and dissolved
minerals as well as anchor the plant
to the earth. In order to accomplish
this task, the roots must develop and
move into new areas of the soil.
Above the ground the growth and
metabolism of the plant root system
is supported by sunlight which aids
in the process of photosynthesis in
the leaves. Food (sugar) from the
leaves is transported via the plants
vascular system, the phloem, to
feed the roots. The roots
are fed by the leaves and
the leaves are fed by the
roots. Botanists will no
doubt roll their eyes at
my major generaliza
tion, but it is pretty close
to true.
A plant’s root system
is made of three types of
roots: taproots, fibrous
roots and adventitious
roots.
Taproots are charac
terized by having one main root (the
taproot) from which smaller roots
emerge. After seed germination,
the first root to emerge is referred
to as the radicle and is considered
the primary root. This radicle can
develop into the taproot. Taproots
can be used for storage, usually car
bohydrates, such as those found in
sugar beets or carrots. Taproots are
also important adapta
tions for searching for
water like those long tap
roots found in pines and
poison ivy.
Fibrous roots are
characterized by having
a mass of similarly sized
roots. After the seed has
germinated, the radicle
is replaced by adventi
tious roots. These roots
are the ones that reach
out and really anchor the
plant as well as move to find water
and nutrients.
Plants with these roots sys
tems are great for erosion con
trol, because they cling to soil
particles. As the root system
grows, more water and nutrients
are available to the entire plant
which helps it increase in size.
The larger the plant also means
more leaves and more photosyn
thesis which helps with root growth.
Root systems on trees and shrubs
can sometimes reach twice the dis
tance from the dripline (very outer
edge of the plant) to the trunk.
Adventitious roots grow from
an area of the plant other than the
root. They usually grow off a stem,
or sometimes a leaf.
Since fall is a good time for plant
ing trees and shrubs, there are a few
things you need to do to make sure
these roots start moving the right
way once they are in the ground.
Dig your holes wide, not deep.
The majority of most plants’ roots
are in the top 8-12 inches of the soil
so a wide hole breaks the compact
soil up allowing for roots to travel
out easier. If you only dig a hole
the size of the plant’s container, the
roots may hit the compacted soil on
the edge of the hole and stop there.
A lot of container plants have
compacted roots for the size of the
pot. When planting a container
plant, massage the roots where they
are loosened up. Then install the
plant where the base is 1 inch above
the ground level. Then mound the
dirt from the base and blend it away
from the plant.
And lastly, water the newly
installed plant but don’t drown it.
More plants are harmed by overwa
tering than under watering. Moist is
good, wet is bad.
Remember how important roots
are, so make sure you understand
what is happening beneath all those
pretty leaves so you can have some
healthy plants.
Campbell Vaughn is UGA Extension-
Agriculture and Natural Resource
Agent in Richmond County. He can be
reached at ecvaughn@uga.edu.
CAMPBELL
VAUGHN
ecvaughn@uga.edu
