North America - Lehigh Cement Company Waco Plant Holds Contest and Tour for Decatur High School Students

In December of 2001 the Waco Sales Office received a request from Allentown headquarters. This request originated from a Decatur, TX, high school chemistry teacher who e-mailed Lehigh Cement Company for assistance on a concrete project/contest his students were doing. This teacher wanted some literature concerning the making of cement and concrete.

Two videos and 65 booklets on the making of cement were sent to Decatur High School. The team at Waco went two steps further and offered to reward the winning teams with prizes and provide a personalized Waco plant tour for those winners.

The contest consisted of eleven teams of four students. Each team had to conduct research on how to make concrete. Then as a practical application the students were asked to make a 12-inch concrete cylinder. The goal of the team would be to make the strongest cylinder (strongest flexural strength) for the win. The measurement was crude but effective - support the ends of the cylinder over a 5-gallon bucket and add weight to the middle of the cylinder until it broke.

The project/contest ended in mid-November. The Waco plant tour occurred on January 14, 2002. Eight students plus the instructor attended a barbecue lunch and presentation by Jim Davis (Quality Control & Environmental Compliance Supervisor) at the Waco plant. This was followed by a one hour plant tour guided by Jim Davis as well. The prizes were awarded afterward, with each member of the top three teams receiving various corporate giveaway items. A post tour interview with the instructor revealed a tremendous interest to make future trips with different students.

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