Teamwork

We work well in teams, we enjoy it. That’s how Chico State is designed and built.

“We helped cement a piece of history,” says Phil Petermann, “literally.”

He and seven other concrete industry management (CIM) majors spent 10 weeks working on Alcatraz Island, rehabilitating a 100-year-old historic staircase for the National Parks Service as the 2011 Preservation Field School Team.

“We preserved something, and it was a great life experience,” he says. “How many chances do you get to work on an island that gets visited by 5,000 people a day?”

Petermann, an Elk Grove native, got his chance as the field school’s student public affairs director. The former Orion sports editor drew on his journalism background to communicate with journalists, write promotional materials, and establish a social media campaign including videos.

But to his surprise, Petermann discovered that what he liked most was the hands-on work. “I liked being the one to get in there and actually repair the steps,” he says. “We knew what to do from reading the textbooks, attending presentations, and being taught by Professor Komas [CIM director and Preservation Field School coordinator], but going out there and seeing it in the field was a completely different experience.”

“The NPS gave us a lot of freedom to problem solve and be creative in the rehabilitation,” he adds. “They asked us to keep as much of the old material as possible and then let us get to work. At first we kind of freaked out—‘Oh, this is actually our job—not a class or a test. We need to get this right! ” 

The students collaborated to successfully close out the summer.  “We all have a special bond because of it,” he says. “One of the people from the CIM national steering committee said, ‘You guys obviously have some sort of chemistry. There is something special about you.’ “

“But that's common at Chico State—we work well in teams, we enjoy it,” Petermann says. “That’s how Chico State is designed and built.”

Other student teams build on Chico State’s long tradition of service to the North State through projects that include the annual Blitz Build, the Butte County Jail Law Project, and education students volunteering in local classrooms.

Read more about CIM’s Field Preservation School at Alcatraz in the San Francisco Chronicle and Chico Statements.