PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
NEW HOME … The Four County Career Center senior carpentry instructor Curtis Miller (left) told Archbold Rotarians that this year’s class is building a 2,500 square foot home on State Route 6, the 86th home that the carpentry program has built. Pictured from left: Miller, Jeff Slattery, Four County Career Center superintendent who arranged the program; and senior carpentry students Jesus Guillen, whose home school is Hilltop West Unity; C.J. Arroyo-Thompson from Archbold, Annaliese Keene, Liberty Center, and Jason Grime, Archbold.
PRESS RELEASE – Twenty-one of the 40 students in the senior carpentry program at Four County Career Center are spending half of their school day working on “one of best hands-on projects” that they can do – build a house using the skills that they’ve been taught, said their senior carpentry instructor Curtis Miller.
Miller and four of his students recently explained the project to Archbold Rotarians. He noted that this year’s home, located on U.S. 6, is a bit larger than their usual homes at just over 2,500 square feet. It’s being built for Doug Posey.
Miller is no stranger to Four County’s carpentry program as he has been an instructor there for 12 years and before that was a student in the program.
He explained that the junior carpentry class learns about the tools that they will use, work safety and how to build smaller projects than a house. Some of the students in the program already have some background in carpentry, but others are totally new to it.
This year’s house is the 86th that the senior students have built over the years. The process of selecting a project starts every February when applications are reviewed. Generally, homes must be within 15 miles of Four County Career Center and be around 1,800 square feet.
Once a house is selected, the homeowner signs a contract that stipulates that they must provide and pay for all building materials, make sure the basement and foundation has been completed by the start of the first day of school with the last day of school being the final day of work by the carpentry students. Homeowners are also responsible for hiring an HVAC contractor.
By Christmas, Miller said they plan to have the house closed in. And, as the school year is winding down, if delays during the year have moved completion off schedule, he will talk with the homeowner to determine what they want the students to complete.
Four County students in other programs are responsible for the electrical and plumbing work at the construction site.
Miller said that having Four County students build the house has been estimated to save the homeowner $60,000 to more than $100,000 in labor costs.
All the homeowner owes Four County is the cost of transporting the students, who work in two shifts (one in the morning and the other in the afternoon) to and from the construction site plus an equipment maintenance and supply fee for the carpentry program.
This year Miller has 21 of the 40 students in the senior carpentry program working on the home building project.
The other 19 are working half of the day in paid job placements. The other half of the day the students are in their academic classes at the school.