School for Advanced Segmental Paving

February 2006

So much has happened since we met at the first annual Founders meeting in Las Vegas. Last week, our second Team Teaching for Foremen class graduated. Those classes, along with the two Foundation Skills for Sales Professionals courses that have recently graduated, total four successful classes. Judging by the overwhelming response by the students when asked if they’d recommend this course to others, it is fair to say that the School for Advanced Segmental Paving is a huge success.

Team Teaching class photo

The following comment was a response from David of Kirchner Brick and Block. “I would (recommend) and I will for both our sales force & our contractors. I was impressed from start to finish.”

Below is a suggestion by one of the students that we have addressed.

With a full class of 12 students, why not divide the class into three ‘crews’. That way we can benefit by working closely together as we would at a real jobsite. Then rotate the tasks so everyone will benefit from the team teaching aspect. (This concept can be seen in the above photo where the four man crew works together to set the pace for efficient crew “rhythm”.)

Mike from Even Grade Landscaping said, “It would be super if all paver installers would take this class. That way everyone would compare apples to apples when bidding the same job.” This comment came after Bill Schneider from LPS Pavement Company volunteered to teach the estimating portion for the first Foundation skills course.

Both of the courses explain the methods and technologies of the entire installation process that save time, manpower, and ultimately money. One technique is to install the Pave Edge before the sand and pavers. By installing it first, there is no need to overlay the field pavers wasting valuable time and materials. This can be seen in the included photos. The first photo shows Tyler, owner of Madeline Island Landscaping, cutting pavers for the soldier course, with the second photo showing his crew foremen Matt fitting them in place.

In early February, the School for Advanced Segmental Paving had an opportunity to exhibit at the Chicago Hardscape Expo in St. Charles, IL. Several attendees were interested, with three of those signing up right there. During the show, an ICPI certification course was being held. I am please to announce that all 58 students were introduced to our hands-on training. Many of them later came by our booth expressing their interest in applying their newfound knowledge to good use. With that concept in mind, we are now handing out ICPI membership application folders to each student.

The latest development to come out of the school is the creation of a Hardscape contractor forum. A website where Hardscape contractors can pose questions (threads) so that other members can provide assistance presenting options, and possible solutions. The forum can be reached at the following address: www.paverschool.com/forum

If you have any questions or feedback in relation to the school,
or its courses, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Until next time,

Mark Skiba

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