Our Program

Students involved in the ACE program are paired with volunteer professionals from local design and construction firms. Mentors provide guidance to students as they take field trips, visit industry offices, and tour educational campuses. ACE mentors represent many industry disciplines: architecture, engineering, interior design, construction.

A typical annual calendar of programs for ACE students includes several visits:

• university, technical school, trade school, or community college campus
• architecture, engineering, or contractor’s office
• active construction site

Through involvement with the ACE program, students create and design projects connected to “real-world” situations. Program participants are able to experience the process of transforming ideas from abstract concepts into the buildings, structures and spaces surrounding our community.

Meetings are typically held on a biweekly basis for 90 minutes. The ACE Mentor program runs from October through the end of April each academic year.

Mentors

Our mentors are volunteers working locally throughout the industry in the St Louis Area, approximately 30 will register in any given year. We like to have as many disciplines represented as possible so there is someone to connect with a student whatever his or her interest may be. We have several of architects and engineers volunteering and are hoping to have more representation from the construction industry as well!

We ask that mentors attend as many meetings as they can. We understand that project deadlines and travel will always take priority, but the best mentoring happens when our students really connect with and get to know their mentors. All mentors must register on the website. After filling out the forms, a short training module, 5-10 minutes, will be required. Registration and training are required every year. Once the registration and training are complete, a background check is ordered. This process is still required for virtual sessions. When approved, they are good for three years. Once all of that is complete, mentors are normally assigned to one of the three schools and are ready to go. We also have a mentor kick-off meeting at the beginning of the year and a lessons learned meeting at the end of the year to get all the mentors in one place and listen to what worked and what didn’t, and then adjust accordingly.