Gainesville High School students are getting hands-on experience with a fundraising project for the school's construction program.
The students are collaborating to build a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home that will be auctioned off later in the school year. The GHS construction program teaches carpentry, masonry, plumbing and electrical trades. Shane Millwood, one of two construction teachers at GHS, said the project allows students to apply knowledge from class to bring their vision to life.
“For carpentry, part of our standards are floor systems, wall systems and roof systems,” Millwood explained. “We've already gotten through the floor system and wall system portion, and we're putting this OSB on here now so the kids can go ahead and start cutting the rafters and decking it and putting the shingles on.”
The materials for the project were mostly donated by local businesses. Millwood’s carpentry classes began working on the project when Gainesville City Schools returned from summer break in Aug. 2024. Once the framing of the house is complete, Brandon Miller, who teaches the electrical pathway at GHS, will supervise his students as they run wiring for the building.
Miller explained that in years past the construction pathway students would collaborate to build a single wall and run electrical components through it before taking it down and starting over. Both teachers were inspired to make their classes more interactive after seeing similar projects at a state-wide professional development meeting over the summer.
“This is great because students are building a house,” Miller said. “They're seeing every aspect that they can see with both carpentry and they'll see it with electrical as well when carpentry is done, but it's a great opportunity to [take] what they're learning and put it into ‘I have built something, I have accomplished something.’”
The GHS construction program serves roughly 360 students every day. Among them is senior Andre Blackwell, who shared how the pathway has opened his mind to several career options.
“I transferred here from North Gwinnett, and then I got put in construction,” Blackwell said. “When I got in it, I saw that construction wasn't really what I just thought. It was more than just building a house or whatever. You make a connection, you meet a lot of new people. You get to go to a whole bunch of field trips and events, and you just see different career paths [other] than just going to college.”
Miller’s son Cohen is a junior enrolled in the school’s program. Cohen said working alongside his dad makes the class project even more special.
“It's a fun project for all of us to get to work on, because it's not every day you get to graduate out of high school and say, you built a house in one of your classes,” he said. “And it's good having my dad here to work with me, because if I have any questions, I can just ask him while I'm at home, or I can just ask him in my free time about it, so that way when I come in the next morning, it's easier for me, and it helps our class out even more.”
Millwood and Miller aim to have the project finished by December 2024 and sell the building before students leave for spring break in 2025. The teachers have not decided on a starting bid price for the project, but Millwood estimated it would be between $25,000-30,000, based on current market prices.
