Jonah Klein hammers nails into a wooden structure that he assembled by hand. He had previously used a handsaw to cut the pieces of wood into the exact shapes he needed to construct the design. While some high school students might feel apprehensive at the thought of handling power tools daily, Klein had gained a lot of experience from his homebuilding class and found the task to be easy and enjoyable. It was this practice and skill-building that led to his win at the homebuilding regional competition just a couple months after he started taking the class.
Community High School is known as an alternative school, and part of that identity includes offering opportunities for students to participate in nontraditional courses. Senior Jonah Klein first heard about such a program when he saw an article about a CHS student who gained state-level recognition after participating in a home-building competition. This sparked his interest, and Klein started looking into the Ann Arbor Student Building Industry Program. He originally wasn’t sure if it would be a good fit, because he had never used anything more than a drill or a hammer before to do basic home repairs. However, Klein applied after going to a tryout day, and he ended up getting into the class.
Without the first week, Klein was using electrical circular saws. A couple of weeks later, he was qualified to use powder-actuated nail guns and air compressors, tools that he never would have even dreamed he could use if not for the program. Every day since the beginning of the school year, Klein would go to the site with the goal of building an entire house and selling it over the summer. His group was a combination of high schoolers from Community, Huron and Pathways, a variety of different people coming from different backgrounds. Many people were there to engage in their own way of learning, which led to some personality clashes.
“Finding a way that we could all work in unison was definitely a little bit of a challenge, but I feel like we really got it down now,” Klein said. “We can really send each other off to work with anybody and get stuff done efficiently.”
There were two teachers, known to the students as coaches. One of them had been working with students using this method for the past two decades, while the other one was still learning the ropes. Both coaches were prepared to step in to work through any issues with the students, whether interpersonal or instructional, and figure out what the problem was and how to fix it. They helped to guide the students through learning to work with both their hands and their minds, growing as homebuilders and as people.
After settling into his course and establishing baseline practical skills, Klein joined a competition program called SkillsUSA. The program allowed him to get extra practice with all the different aspects of carpentry like measuring structures, building walls, using metal studs and even building a roof. An opportunity to apply these skills arose when Klein went to a competition in Detroit along with 15 other people. Everyone was given five hours to build the same structure: a four-foot by four-foot base about five to six feet tall. When they finished, a team of six to seven judges walked around and graded every aspect of it.
“It wasn’t [a] huge [structure],” Klein said, “but for five hours and working alone, it was definitely big.”
Klein was shooting for a spot in second or third place, hoping to advance to the state competition. He was extremely surprised when they called his name for first place. However, Klein wasn’t the only person from his homebuilding class competing in the regional competition in Detroit. Two other people he had been working with were now his competitors. This could have been an awkward situation, but they were all in good spirits and excited to compete. Klein’s teammates ended up placing in second and third place, and the group decided to ride home together after their victory.
“The ride home was just super enjoyable,” Klein recalled. “We were all talking and laughing. We stopped and we got ice cream and [I] just spent the time with my team. It was definitely a great memory from this competition.”
While he isn’t planning on going into home-building professionally, Klein knows he will carry these skills for the rest of his life. He is happy to use his knowledge to help others, including his parents when they need help around the house.
“I am hoping I can stick around with building and working with my hands for the rest of my life,” Klein said. “One day I hope to be the guy that people call if they need something done.”
Klein encourages everyone to look into homebuilding if they are interested, even if they don’t know much about it. There is an open house day for juniors and seniors, and anybody is welcome to reach out to those involved.
“It’s really just a great program,” Klein said, “even if you don’t think you’re gonna like it.”
Klein has always seen himself as an independent person, not someone who relies on or pays other people to do things for him. Through this program, he has gained physical skills like carpentry and electrical know-how in addition to leadership experience and being able to teach others. All of these aspects will last him for the rest of his life, and now that Klein knows the basics of home repair, he is excited to save money by repairing and installing things himself. Above all, he is excited to compete in the state competition and do something he loves.
