Lifelong learning, lifelong engagement: When it comes to building K-12 schools, we’re in it for the long haul.

Giving children in grades K-12 the best shot at a great education calls for full engagement: from parents, teachers, the local school committee and business community. From providing mentorship and educational support to making sure the educational environment is right for learning, we do everything we can to set up our kids for lifelong success. For Suffolk, building the spaces where our children learn is an honor that we truly take to heart.?

As local K-12 school builders, Suffolk sees our teams as extensions of the learning environments where we build. We’ve had the privilege of constructing schools in cities like Lowell, Saugus, Somerville and more. Yes, we’re builders at heart. But what really drives us is the opportunity to build something that’s deeply woven into the fabric of a city or town. When we work on a project, we’re not just putting up a building and leaving. We’re creating something meaningful for the community –before, during, and after we build an elementary, middle, or high school.??

Our engagement with the community comes in many forms. It includes sharing our time, resources, knowledge and skills in ways that lift up a community and show children pathways to rewarding careers, whether or not they attend college. Here are a few of the ways Suffolk has worked to build foundations for the future in the communities where we build.?

Shining a light on potential careers

We’re builders at heart, and nothing brings us more enjoyment than sharing our passion for construction with the next generation. Watching a building go up is a fantastic learning opportunity — and a chance to show students the viability of a construction career.?

At our B.M.C. Durfee High School project in Fall River, Mass., Senior Project Manager Erin Kenney and the project team collaborated with the Durfee designers to conduct a full jobsite tour for 250 students from Durfee and Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School. The architects brought in their virtual reality walkthrough program, which included headsets and handheld devices, then discussed the design process and allowed students to fly through the virtual jobsite. Once the students understood the design, the Suffolk team brought the students onto the jobsite — where we were erecting steel — and showed them how the process comes to life. We also provided Durfee teachers with our construction documents, which they leveraged to build an engineering curriculum. Students took samples of the concrete we used on the jobsite, then did their own materials testing.?

We’re now building a new high school for Diman, and we are taking these jobsite tours a step further by highlighting individual trades on the project. Students will have a chance to hear from site leaders in plumbing, electrical, carpentry and other trades, showing the career specialties that are out there. And Lowell High School Project Executive Rex Radloff is wearing more than one hard hat on that job — he’s also an adjunct professor at UMass Lowell, his alma mater, and is conducting jobsite tours at this “living classroom” for his Civil Engineering students.?

Opening our doors to the public

In addition to the curriculums we’ve developed for students, we’ve also engaged community members to take part in the construction process. In Fall River, we held open houses and public meetings so faculty, staff, students and residents could see progress behind our scrim. We also held “coffee talks” during our steel and drywall phases with state Rep. Carole Viola, where we scheduled site tours for faculty and community members. And when we completed construction and teachers wanted to know the layout of their new school before students arrived, we hosted a week of training on how to operate the building, provided them with water bottles and maps, and created a video that walked them through how to navigate the facility and use the lights, window shades and more.?

Supporting local organizations

Building in these communities, often for years, means that we have the opportunity to connect with organizations making a difference. In Lowell, we worked with the following nonprofits on various initiatives.?

Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell: Every year, our team helps prepare and serve Thanksgiving dinner to 200+ kids, then wrap presents for all the kids for their Christmas celebration. We also clean up their garden area for summer activities and picnic lunches and prepare and serve BBQ lunches to 200+ kids every Friday from June to August. Finally, we have plans in the works to present on STEM career paths for the 13-18-year-old age group and create workshops for the 5-12-year-old age group.?

The Sun?Santa Fund: Our team holds annual toy drives onsite to distribute to the local kids at Christmas.?

Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce: Suffolk is proud to be a Gold Partner with GLCC. We’ve had a chance to partner with the Lowell Youth Leadership Program, where we sponsor five campers over the summer and volunteer to lead STEM activities for participants. Through the GLCC, we’ve also produced social media spotlights on the project, as well as a podcast with project updates for the community.

At the end of the day, these are also our communities. My wife is a preschool teacher, and I welcomed the opportunity to visit her school in Milford recently and spend quality time with these future K-12 students. Many of us are parents, sending our kids to schools in the places where we build. And some of us even wanted to be teachers before we discovered a passion for construction. No matter where we come from, though, all of us take great care in treating these places like our homes. When we see the looks on the kids’ faces when they walk into their new school, it makes everything worth it.