Fox Valley Technical College student gets a crash course in construction in the middle of a pandemic – Post-Crescent

As an intern for The Boldt Company, Fox Valley Technical College student Dylan Casey helped build temporary care centers to support emergency room overflow due to COVID-19 for Aurora Health Care in Green Bay, Marinette, Oshkosh and Two Rivers.(Photo: Courtesy of Fox Valley Technical College)

GRAND CHUTE - Whatever profession he chose to pursue, Dylan Casey has always wanted to feel like he's making a difference.

That's why the 20-year-old Portage native landed on construction, an industry that's vital to maintaining infrastructure, building communities, as well as ensuring allbuildings hospitals, office buildings, whatever else are safe and up-to-date.

In his second semester as a student of Fox Valley Technical College's construction management technology program, Casey is already well on his way to making the difference he'd dreamed of. Just not in the way he imagined.

About three months into his gig as a field engineer intern for The Boldt Company, the coronavrius pandemic hit, shutting down businesses and schools including his own FVTC across Wisconsin and the nation.

Dylan Casey, 20, studies construction management technology at Fox Valley Technical College.(Photo: Courtesy of FVTC)

Instead of hunkering down at home, Casey found himself among those considered "essential workers" and helped build temporary care centers to support emergency room overflow for Aurora Health Care locations in Green Bay, Marinette, Oshkosh andTwo Rivers.

Though the internship is now over economic fallout from COVID-19 caused it to be rescinded early last month Casey is grateful for the learning experience.

"The impact that construction makes is kind of the reason I'm in it," Casey said. "It's something I'm passionate about, so this is a story that will be engraved in my memory for a long time. It was just unreal to be part of this."

While Casey was previously focusedon juggling school with Boldt projects at Kimberly Clark and the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, frommid-March onward, his focus shifted to serving as a key liaison between construction workers and vendors in acquiring supplies for two main projects: Constructing drive-thru testing facilities and overflow tents used to treat patients.

As an intern for The Boldt Company, Fox Valley Technical College student Dylan Casey helped build temporary care centers to support emergency room overflow due to COVID-19 for Aurora Health Care in Green Bay, Marinette, Oshkosh and Two Rivers.(Photo: Courtesy of Fox Valley Technical College)

The turnaround time for those projects? Just two weeks.

The experience was a bit of a whirlwind, Casey said, but he feels it was invaluable to his future in construction.

"Being out in the field is where I feel like I'm able to learnthe most," Casey said. "And what I learned above all is that construction is very unpredictable. It's never going to be the same day to day. You learn quickly that the industry is always changing and always adapting to people's needs."

But that got Casey thinking about how his classmates we're doing, many of them stuck at home and learning online because, understandably, field trips aren't a safe option. So, he decided to share his experiencesby making a video showcasing the fast-paced construction process.

"You don't really learn from behind a computer ... When you're sitting in class and learning about all the building codes, you tend to get a little lost in it all," Casey said. "So I think if someone's able to share this with other students, I thought it'd be a really good learning tool."

Casey said the class discussion of his video also allowed him to learn more and think about the construction process differently.

"It was really cool to see (my classmates') comments," Casey said. "They pointed out things I didn't even think of."

Rich Cass, a construction management technology instructor at FVTC, said the footage was invaluable to his online classes.

The video tours bring a real-world scenario to class to supplement the field trips we cannot normally do because of COVID-19, he said. Dylans ability to think critically demonstrates his passion for others on both a job site and in class.

MORE:Wisconsin's rural school districts face major barriers to keeping learning going through coronavirus closures: namely, internet access

MORE:What's a 'P-plus'? Here's how Wisconsin schools will grade students for a semester interrupted by coronavirus.

MORE:Here's how Fox Valley high schools and colleges are planning to handle graduation in the age of coronavirus

Contact reporter Samantha West at 920-996-7207 or swest@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BySamanthaWest.

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Fox Valley Technical College student gets a crash course in construction in the middle of a pandemic - Post-Crescent