Woodland Elementary staff and students recently traded their classroom for hard hats. From a safe distance behind the fence line, they got a firsthand look at the jobsite where their new school is taking shape. The visit, known as a fence tour, was led by Anastasia Wojcik, project manager with Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. (O-A-K), and Jennifer Carson, principal at Woodland Elementary.

"It's great for them to be able to see the people on site, equipment moving around, and really get a sense of what's happening here," Carson said.

Teachers also used the visit to bring a classroom lesson to life, connecting the tour to a unit on area and perimeter.

The new Woodland Elementary is part of Portage Public Schools' Building the Future of Learning bond program, approved by voters in 2021. The building is being designed around an enchanted forest theme, with natural materials and abundant daylight. Learn more about the ground breaking here.

While construction continues, staff and students are temporarily housed at the former Haverhill Elementary building. Woodland is scheduled to open in fall 2027, the first of three new Portage elementary schools opening in three consecutive years, followed by Amberly in 2028 and Angling Road in 2029.

Thank you to our partners: Portage Public Schools, TowerPinkster, Plante Moran, Fielding International, and Video Partner Taproot Pictures.

At the Grand Rapids Public Museum, learning now happens outside, right on the banks of the Grand River. The museum's new Riverfront brings an outdoor classroom and reopened public access to the water, so students and families can explore the geology, ecology, and history of the river in the very landscape they're studying.

The Riverfront is part of the museum's Expanding Curiosity mission, which takes learning beyond the gallery walls and out to the riverbanks. The broader project, funded through public-private partnerships, added overlooks, hands-on environmental exhibits, improved access to the water's edge, and a connection to the Grand River Greenway, an 85-mile non-motorized trail system.

Each summer, roughly a thousand children visit the museum, and many now spend part of their day along the riverfront. Nearby, a layered Geology Wall recreates six types of stone found in the ground beneath Kent County. Educators use it to talk about the history of the rapids and how the limestone was mined from the area, with the real strata visible in the wall behind them.

Just as important is what the space reconnects. For years, retaining walls cut the museum off from the river below. Now a sidewalk and stone steps lead down to the water's edge, opening the river back up to the people who come to learn from it. Groups gather to collect water samples and study the insects that live in the river, and visitors have already put the space to use for fishing.

Accessibility shaped the design throughout. Rather than a single accessible route, the space offers multiple points of access, giving every visitor the freedom to choose how they move through it.

The museum Riverfront is one of six current projects reshaping the Grand River, and Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. is proud to be part of three of them. Along with the museum, we, in collaboration with the City of Grand Rapids and Viridis Design Group are building Canal Park, opening in late fall, and the East Riverfront Park near the new Acrisure Amphitheater, now in Phase II. Both add kayak launches and river access that this stretch of the Grand hasn't offered in generations, opening the water back up to the community.

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Video by Taproot Pictures

This summer, 28 interns joined O-A-K across our Michigan and Florida offices in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Traverse City, Naples, and Fort Myers. Each intern was was assigned to active projects and put to work.

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The pathway is real

Over the past decade, at least 14 former interns have moved into full-time roles with O-A-K.

Brian Filipek interned in 2015 and is now a Project Manager. "The company's reputation initially attracted me to the internship, but it was the people and culture that convinced me to stay," Filipek said. Marco Garcia interned in 2020 and returned in 2024 as a Project Superintendent. Carlos Rapalo interned in 2024 and became an Assistant Project Manager in 2025. Sammuel Presmy worked the Cape Coral Technical College expansion as an intern and joined full-time in May 2026 as an Assistant Project Manager.

Employee-owned since 1891, O-A-K gives interns room to grow and people willing to invest in that growth. Many stay on part-time while finishing their degrees, then join full-time after graduation.

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Fridays Together: Learning Every Department

Every Friday, interns from all offices came together in-person and virtually to learn the functions that run O-A-K: Preconstruction, Marketing, Safety, Project Management, Accounting, and Superintendent work. Construction does not happen only in the field. These sessions showed our interns the full machine behind a project: Preconstruction planning the work, project managers driving it forward, superintendents leading the field, safety protecting everyone on the jobsite, accounting keeping it honest, and marketing telling the story.

Ian Miller, a Florida Gulf Coast University student, is proof our interns value their time at O-A-K. Ian first interned with us in 2025 on the FGCU Cohen Student Union renovation, following the project from active construction through closeout. He returned this summer for a new project and a wider view of the business.

"O-A-K's internship program is designed to give students meaningful, real-world experience that simply can't be replicated in a classroom," said Jim Hopper, Florida Division President. "Our interns become valuable members of project teams, participate in problem-solving, interact with clients and trade partners, and gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to successfully deliver complex construction projects."

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Meet Kejsi from O-A-K Florida

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What comes next

To the 2026 intern class: thank you for your hard work. You strengthened our teams this summer, and we can't wait to build with you again. Interested in an O-A-K internship? Send a message with your resume to camilag@oakmi.com, or learn more on our Careers Page.