A new round of classes is being offered next month by the Kenai Peninsula Construction Academy for adults 18 and older. Classes are held in the Kenai area, but are open to enrollees across the peninsula.

Students in high school classes began projects benefiting their communities last school year. There are several classes currently underway with more scheduled before the 2008-2009 school year ends.

"It was a Legislature-funded program that wasn't considered a pilot when it first started," said Patrice Parker of Alaska Works Partnership in Anchorage, coordinator of the statewide academy program.

In 2006, the Legislature awarded a $1 million grant to the Anchorage Construction Academy to recruit, train and place students in construction industry jobs. In 2007, with support from Gov. Sarah Palin and members of the Legislature, a $3.5 million appropriation expanded the academy to other areas of the state, including the Kenai Peninsula.

"We tie all our training to employment. That's the big focus," Parker said. "We train where there are jobs rather than say this training is a great idea."

The adult academy offers classes on evenings and Saturdays so students can continue their employment while training for new careers in construction. Courses include basic carpentry, plumbing, electricity, drywall finishing, stick welding, blueprint reading and construction trade math. Health and safety and other certification courses are offered to those completing one or more of the core classes.

"The whole intent of the funding is that we'd train people so they'd raise their earning potential and get entry-level construction jobs," Parker said. "It's a way to explore a career. If an 18-year-old thinks he or she wants to be an electrician, he or she could take the class rather than applying to an apprenticeship program and, after a lot of time and money, have no interest in it."

The academy also could serve as a step toward an apprenticeship.

"If you want to have enough familiarity with the tools of the construction industry, these classes can really help," Parker said. "We've even had people take classes more than once because it makes them more well-rounded employees or gives them a better chance of getting a job."

Adults interested in taking courses offered through the academy should contact Parker at (907) 569-4734 or the Alaska Dept. of Labor's Kenai Peninsula Job Center, (907) 283-2995.

"The job center is the point of contact for people to come in, fill out an application and we do an assessment of their math and reading levels and then coordinate with other agencies so we can set up interviews and determine who gets into which programs," said Val Ischi, employment security specialist at the Kenai Job Center.

Courses offered through the construction academy are free. Students receive certificates for successfully completing the work.

"We want people to understand that," Ischi said, of the free classes that can be a stepping stone to increased earning power. "These are high-paying industries and (the classes) can lead to high-paying jobs."

In the first year, 108 adults completed the academy in Anchorage.

"The following year, we had 242 adults in the six communities," Parker said of the growing interest with academies in Anchorage, Fairbanks, the Mat-Su Valley, Juneau, Ketchikan and Kenai.

During the 2007-2008 school year, Ninilchik and Nikolaevsk schools offered an academy taught by Jerry Bernhardt. The result was a new livery stable built on the Kenai Peninsula State Fair grounds in Ninilchik.

"(Bernhardt) did an amazing job," Fair Manager Lara McGinnis said of the 18-foot-by-20-foot building. "They did a board and batten siding, a nice porch, trusses, everything."

What the students learned came in handy when they wanted to enlarge Ninil-chik's teen center.

"He gave the kids skills that they turned around to use to pull down a wall at the teen center and expand it in a great way that saved a lot of money," McGinnis said.

Now, Nikolaevsk students are building a gazebo with Bernhardt's help. Joshua Brege is working with students at Homer High School.

"He's doing very well, very well. The kids really enjoy him," Leanne Abendroth, project coordinator for the construction academies offered through the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, said of Brege's work at HHS.

While the KPBSD program focuses on high school juniors and seniors, freshmen and sophomores also are welcome to enroll. In addition to Ninilchik, Nikolaevsk and Homer, students from Voznesenka, Kachemak Selo, Razdolna and Seldovia have participated on the southern peninsula, according to Abendroth. Plans are currently underway for Nanwalek and Port Graham students to attend a two-week academy on Seldovia later this school year.

More than 3,000 high school students have taken the construction-related classes, with some now being offered at the middle-school level, according to Parker.

"(The academy) gives the skills employers are looking for in the construction field," Abendroth said. "It gives the students a benefit over other kids that haven't had the opportunity to work with an instructor to learn those skills, skills they can put on their resumes."

For more information about the Alaska Construction Academy program, visit the Web at www.alaskaca.org/servlet/content/overview.html.

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibbenjackinsky.@homernews.com.