About Us

The ACE Mentor Program of Broward County helps high school students discover the wide range of career options available to them in architecture, construction and engineering.

During the program year, professionals from local building industry firms as well as high school and university educators meet weekly after school with teams of high school juniors and seniors to share experiences and expertise. Students visit construction sites, specialty training facilities and offices of industry professionals. They also work together in teams on projects reflecting real-world challenges.

The ACE program was first introduced to the South Florida area in 2005 by Turner Construction who mentored students at Miami Senior High School. In 2008, the ACE Mentor Program of South Florida affiliate was formed with teams at five schools – Miami Senior High School (Miami-Dade), Plantation High School (Broward), Atlantic Technical Center Magnet High School (Broward), McArthur High School (Broward) and South Fork High School (Martin).

In 2009, the ACE Mentor program was adopted at three more schools: Miami Carol City High School (Miami-Dade), Atlantic High School (Palm Beach) and Seminole Ridge High School (Palm Beach). In 2010 two more schools were added, Miami Coral Park (Miami-Dade) and Northeast (Broward) totaling nine schools in the mentoring program. At the end of the 2010 the ACE Mentor Program of South Florida was divided into three regions, Palm Beach/Martin, Broward and Dade Counties to focus on increasing enrollment in ACE in each school and to broaden the number of schools in each region being mentored by the industry. Each of the three regions now has become an independent affiliate of ACE National.

Our Projects

Through the years, student teams and their mentors from local architecture, construction and engineering firms completed a range of “mock” building projects, including schools, bridges and rapid transit stations. In addition to working on their projects, the teams visited local construction sites and professional offices.

At the end of the year, students present their project solutions to parents, teachers, mentor firm members and others. A scholarship program for ACE seniors intending to pursue a career in the building industry highlights the end of every year.

Our Activities

Last year’s students attended college/career event with FIU, FAU, Broward College, Palm Beach College, Everglades University, University of Florida and ABC training institute. Additionally, over 40 students had an exclusive tour of the new FAU football stadium under construction. At the yearend function held at Broward College one team from each school presented their final projects in front of school administrators, parents and mentors and $7,000 in scholarships were awarded.