Education
PCMA Workforce Development
The Workforce Development Committee arranges for tool bags, filled with tools of the masonry trade, to be distributed to the top masonry students at the secondary and post secondary levels across the state.
Tool Bag Awards to Top Students
The following awards were distributed for 2024:
Admiral Peary AVTS: Colton Shoemaker
Bedford Co. Technical Center: James Waybright
Berks Career and Tech Center: Chase Nugent
Bethlehem Area Vocational Tech School: Julia Dinapoli
Career Institute of Technology: Luis Rodriguez
Career Technology Center of Lackawanna Co: Willian Parry
Central Westmoreland Career & Tech Center: Mason Perez
Clearfield County Career & Tech Center: Ryan Wood
Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Tech School: Alenna Dingman
Dauphin County Technical School: Fox Mathias
Eastern Westmoreland: Jacob Roadman
Essex County Schools of Technology: No recipient this year
Fayette County Career & Technical Institute: Farah Smith
Fulton Co. Area Vocational Tech. School: Nevin Carbaugh
Greater Altoona Career & Tech Center: Logan Rhine
Indiana County Tech Center: Milos Sinan
Lebanon Co. Career & Technology Center: Landon Smith
Lehigh Career & Technical Institute: Logan Eisenhauer
Monroe Career & Tech Institute: Thomas Puglisi
Northern Westmoreland CTC: Liam Kuczinski
Reading-Muhlenberg CTC: Jolene Bates
Somerset County Technology Center: Ian McNeely
Sun Area Career and Tech Center: Josiah Bauman
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology: Jack Miller
The Williamson College of the Trades: Isaiah Bolden
Union County Career and Technology Center: Santio Pecorella
Upper Buck AVTS: Joshua Overholt
Western Area CTC: Mason Allison
Wilkes-Barre, AVTS: Gauge Burnett
York County School of Technology: Seamus Murphy
PA Skills Winners
PA Skills Winners 2024
At the competition held April 4, 2024 in Lebanon, PA the following students won awards:
Secondary School
1st Place - $500 Cash Award from Masonry Instructors Association of PA
Jacob Roadman - Eastern Westmoreland CTC (Bill Wilson Instructor)
2nd Place - $200 Cash Award from Masonry Instructors Association of PA
Ryan Freeman Nield - Bethlehem AVTS (Robert Kulick Instructor)
3rd Place - $100 Cash Award from Masonry Instructors Association of PA
Owen Heimbach - Berks CTC East Campus (Mike Kern & Tim Fries Instructors)
4th Place - $100 Cash Award from Masonry Instructors Association of PA
Mason Perez - Central Westmoreland CTC (Ken Lehnhardt Instructor)
Post Secondary School
1st Place - $500 Cash Award from PCMA
Samuel Berryman - Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology (Mike Gardner & Chad Hummel Instructors)
2nd Place - $200 Cash Award from PCMA
Derek Brunetto - Williamson College of the Trades (Pete Zwolak Instructor)
Congratulations to these fine students!
Masonry Instructors Association (MIA)
Organized as a committee of PCMA, the Masonry Instructors Association provides a forum for communication within the secondary and post secondary masonry instructors throughout the State of PA and the Mid-Atlantic region. Masonry Instructors Association members have a voice to advocate for masonry through the PA Department of Education and with the individual Career and Technical Centers statewide. The input of this group is important to the agenda for the Masonry Instructors Workshop and other initiatives related to Workforce Development efforts by PCMA.
2024 Officers
Mike Gardner (President)
Bill Wilson (Vice President)
Josh Boettner (Treasurer)
Masonry Recruitment
Looking for a great CAREER? Become a MASON.
The Masonry Industry Offers Excellent Career Opportunities.
Read our informative brochure for more information about careers in masonry.
National Skills Competition
Student Sam Berryman won Skills PA as a Junior and Senior at the Secondary level under Mike Kern, Berks CTC and again this year as a first year post-secondary student under Mike Gardner, Thaddeus Stevens College of the Trades.
Sam went on to win the 2024 National Skills Competition recently in Atlanta!! He also got a Bronze Award in his Junior year and Silver Award in his Senior year at the Secondary level.
View the article in Masonry Magazine.
Annual Masonry Instructors Workshop
The 18th Annual Masonry Instructors Workshop will take place on Monday, October 7, 2024 at Carroll County Career & Technology Center, Westminster, MD. They have a new school and built a large masonry department for Mike Campanile, the instructor. We will have some good education sessions and demos, too! More information to come.
The 17th Annual Masonry Instructors Workshop was held on Monday, October 2, 2023 at Eastern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center, Latrobe, PA. Masonry Instructors from PA, MD and NJ attended this important educational event to get up to date information on what they should know to teach our future masons. The education session part of the day included presentations on “Masonry & Concrete – Restoration, Preservation, & Maintenance” by Mark Salla of Structural Restoration Services, Inc., “Aesthetic Expectations of Masonry: Light and Shadows” by Brian Trimble of International Masonry Institute (IMI) and Bill Kjorlien, Argos Cement on “Weathering the Storm”. A tour of the of Eastern Westmoreland CTC Masonry Department and demonstrations were also on the agenda.
As a part of the day, the Masonry Instructors Association Meeting was held making it a very full day. Masonry Instructors Association 2023 Officers were: President, Mike Gardner (Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology), Vice President, Bill Wilson (Eastern Westmoreland CTC) and Treasurer, Josh Boettner (Lebanon County CTC). We are proud to share that 42 masonry instructors in PA, MD and NJ are members of the Masonry Instructors Association that runs as a committee of PCMA. They meet twice a year to share ideas and learn about new masonry topics.
Daniel Hiltebeitel, Masonry Instructor, receives 2015 Distinguished Service Honorary Member Award.
Our latest inductee to the Distinguished Service Honorary Membership was honored at the PCMA Annual Holiday General Membership Meeting. This honor, for individuals who have rendered special service to PCMA and the masonry industry, is awarded periodically when the membership and Board of Directors elect someone who shows exemplary service. The 2015 winner is Dan Hiltebeitel, masonry instructor at Williamson College of the Trades.
Dan has been teaching masonry for 38 years but his contributions to PCMA and the masonry industry go far beyond that. He was instrumental in helping to form the Masonry Instructors Association, which runs as a committee of PCMA, to help give a voice to the masonry industry with the PA Department of Education and the Department of Labor and Industry as well as networking for the masonry instructors in PA and now MD. He has been a tireless advocate for getting good quality masons into the trade and is a nationally recognized expert on masonry construction and teaching. Dan is retiring at the end of the school year this year and hopes to remain active in some capacity for the industry.