Senior Jonah Klein is taking the Home Building CR this year. Home Building covers multiple credits such as math, elective and art credits. It provides students with a hands-on curriculum and allows students to be active outside all afternoon.

The class takes place at a work site where students spend the year building a house. Many students get to homebuilding by leaving on a school bus at 11:40 or by driving. Participants start by listening to a 3-5 minute lecture and then walk over to their site where they then start preparing to begin their work for the day.

Home building has been going on for less than two months, yet the team has accomplished a lot.

“At the beginning of the year, our site was a patch of grass,” Klein said. “Now, less than a month and a half later, we have dug out the basement, built the foundation, poured the concrete floor and walls, built the first floor’s flooring and built the walls of the first floor.”

In that time, students have learned how to measure accurately; use circular saws and table saws; use drills with a variety of nails and screws; use powder-actuated and air-pressurized nail guns; assemble scaffolding; and much more.

Homebuilding is available to juniors and seniors, and is a unique opportunity that teaches students skills beyond what they can learn in a traditional classroom setting.