ACE Mentorship Program

At SOH, students have the opportunity of joining the ACE Mentorship Program where industry experts will guide them through the development of a year-long architectural project that they will present at the national Construction Industry Round Table (C.I.R.T), with the possibility of obtaining scholarships.

The mission of ACE is to engage, excite and enlighten high school students to pursue careers in architecture, engineering and construction through mentoring and support of the advancements in the industry.

To register for ACE, students must to visit the ACE mentor website, and bring a signed parent consent form.

Meetings regularly take place Tuesdays during lunch. Meetings with the mentors occur Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 PM.

People are arranged based upon an individual’s interests and skills. Those interested in architecture may decide to join the design & architecture team, utilizing Revit, a computer modeling software, to create a floor plan and the layout for the proposed building. They may choose to also work on the modeling team, assembling the final 3D computer model and building a physical small scale model for the final presentation. The budgeting team computes the total cost of the project if it were brought to life, researching the prices of materials and labor. The scheduling team tracks the time it would take for the project to be finalized if it were built. Their estimates are based upon material shipping time and those from other, completed, and similarly sized projects in existence.

San Diego State University (SDSU) regularly hosts presentations at the county level. Members of the ACE club will present their project and be part of the award ceremony, obtaining their scholarships or other recognition from ACE. The finalists of the national competition are not decided here. Students will also have the opportunity to explore other team’s submissions.

ACE has awarded over $37 million in scholarships throughout its history; in 2024 alone students received $4.5 millions. Students must write two essays responding to two of four prompts. There is a limit of 500 words. As of 2025, every member who applied for the scholarship at our school obtained one, varying from $1,000 to $5,000. Learn more here.