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Van Le, 17, and Carina Hahn, 18, are Westview High School seniors. The girls know that they want to enter the building industry, and they know what it’s all about. They are expanding their knowledge by participating in the ACE Mentor Program, which brings high school students to local firms to learn from building industry professionals, two hours a week for 12 weeks.

At Westview, Le and Hahn were able to take architectural drawing classes and complete a 鈥渃areer track鈥� 鈥� a selection of classes in a chosen industry. But other students come from high schools that don’t offer such opportunities.

Abby Cridland, a program alumna and a Grant High School graduate, is studying interior architecture at the University of Oregon.

鈥淭here was no drafting class in my high school, so most of my experience and connections came through ACE,鈥� Cridland said. 鈥淚 got experience and to understand the process of how the building is construction, starting with bubble diagrams.鈥�

Cridland plans to return to Portland after college to take advantage of the connections she made through the ACE program. She said she would love to be an ACE mentor.

鈥淭hat would be so much fun,鈥� she said.

鈥淩ight now we’ve become the gap-filler, because schools have cut drafting and career prep programs,鈥� said Adam Solomson of Group Mackenzie. He is a mentor captain for the program this year.

鈥淥ur main goal is not really to teach them, but to give them an understanding of what architects and engineers do. For many of those kids, there aren’t other opportunities to give them that exposure,鈥� said Ed Dean, chairman of the ACE Mentor Program of Oregon. 鈥淪ome of these kids may not know that there’s a job in construction beyond swinging a hammer.鈥�

鈥淔or some lower-income students, this is their first opportunity to see a professional office and how it works,鈥� said ACE mentor Michelle Schultz of GBD architects.

Schultz said her participation in the program was inspired, in part, by her own introduction to the architecture field in high school.

鈥淚t hadn’t been something I had thought about, but I was encouraged by a high school counselor to look into architecture,鈥� Schultz said. 鈥淚 was lucky to have drafting programs in my high school at that time.鈥�

Hahn knew she wanted to be an engineer before participating in the program, but she has since met all kinds of engineers: civil, structural, mechanical and more. 鈥淚 have so many more options now,鈥� she said, adding that she now feels more comfortable about entering the field.

This year’s ACE Mentor Program involves 74 students and 50 mentors, according to director Brooke Coleman. At a Tuesday session hosted by the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon in Portland, the mentor-to-student ratio was slightly greater than 1-to-1.

Mentors, like students, gain benefits from the experience.

鈥淭hey get opportunities to interact with other firms and contractors 鈥� it’s a networking opportunity,鈥� Solomson said. 鈥淚n our industry, you get to know everyone eventually, so it’s an advantage to network at that level.鈥�

鈥�(At ACE) I work with other mentors in a different capacity than I do on a day-to-day basis,鈥� Schultz said. 鈥淵ou learn more about what other people do, even more than what you understand after working with them on a project.鈥�

A significant challenge for the ACE Mentor Program is recruitment of students. Mentors could visit schools’ architecture classes or clubs, but the number of those groups is dwindling.

鈥淲e have the mentors to teach the sessions, but we can’t reach the correct audience of students because of the program cuts of the high-school level,鈥� Solomson said. Making an announcement at a full-school assembly would not target the right audience, he said.

Prospective program participants may be surprised to learn of potential benefits. Schultz has written recommendation letters and advised students on senior projects when their schools had no teachers with relevant experience. Some ACE students have been placed in internships after completing the program.

The program also has awarded more than $86,000 in scholarships. This year’s scholarship fund-raiser luncheon will take place April 20.