• Unemployed Volunteers Giving Back
• Habitat for Humanity House in Monroe involved student work
• Disabled mom eager to move into accessible Habitat home
• Habitat for Humanity's ‘Weekend Build' kicks off
• Wanted: Future homeowners
• Blitz Build to wrap up with home dedications
• Airport student incorporates work with Habitat into Eagle Scout project
• Blitz on in bid to build 3 new houses in 12 days
• Stepping up to help out
• Senior makes most of opportunity
• Students team up to build Habitat house

Students team up to build Habitat house

by Michelle Swartz, May 12. 2006 11:44AM

click here for this article @ www.MonrowNews.com

A group of students used teamwork as the solid foundation to build a house for a Habitat for Humanity family.

After about six months, Monroe High School students have completed the construction of a three bedroom, 1,000-square-foot home in Monroe.

"They did a fantastic job. I'm very pleased," said Alan Dieter, construction technology teacher at Monroe High School.

Mr. Dieter led 26 students, made up of juniors and seniors, throughout the construction phase. The class built a Habitat for Humanity home for the local chapter. Johnnie and Dorothy Edwards are the recipients of the new home and are expected to move in within a month.

Habitat supplied materials. Also, Richard (Skip) Russeau, general contractor for Habitat homes, worked on the Railroad St. house as the building site foreman.

Students, whose classroom grade was based on their work habits, were divided into four teams. Mr. Dieter selected student leaders for each team: Kevin Bradley, Ethan Brown, Jacob Matthews and Justin McManaway.

Putting up drywall, roofing and siding were among the students' many duties.

"The teams worked well with each other. The marketplace is all about teamwork so they learned a lot for the future," Mr. Dieter said. "A number of students stepped it up a notch. It was good to see."

Jacob, a senior who hopes to land a career in construction, was happy with the members of his team.

"Each team was in charge of one room. We had the living room. We put the drywall and baseboards up and we did the trim," he explained. "My team did really good. We worked well with each other. We didn't have much problem."

The pilot project, called Youth Educational Construction Program, was supported financially by the United Way of Monroe County, La-Z-Boy Foundation, Automotive Component Holdings, DTE Energy, MacSteel-Quanex Corp., Diamond Electric and other community supporters.

Construction wrapped up in April. Habitat for Humanity held a dedication ceremony Tuesday at the house. For their work, Habitat presented each student with achievement award plaques at the ceremony.

Having reached the completion of the house, Kevin feels a sense of accomplishment.

"The first day, it's just a hole in the ground. Now, it's finished," he said as he completed the finishing touches to the interior walls Wednesday. "We've been here from start to finish. It's a pretty big accomplishment."

Due to the success of the construction, future Habitat homes will be built by students. Plans are being made to have students build another home next year. According to Mr. Dieter, a beginning class will be offered to students in the first year of construction courses at the high school. The class will stay in the classroom and study trades.

The second-year class will be an advanced class where students can actually build a Habitat home.

"We already have a lot of students who want to do it," he said. "The kids are asking to skip the beginner's class so they can get right to building the house. They don't want to wait a year."

Mr. Dieter believes the partnership between Habitat for Humanity and the high school benefits the students.

"They're not only learning about construction but also about community service," he said. "It also will help students who are looking to work in this area in the future. Not just for those interested in carpentry and electrical work but also interior design and sales. When you know how the house is built, it's a lot easier to sell."

Josh Lewis, a junior, plans to take the advanced class next year in order to build another Habitat house. He enjoyed the overall experience of learning how to build a house.

"I liked doing a little bit of everything," he said Wednesday as he nailed a piece of wood into a shed wall. "It's pretty cool that someone will be living in a house that we built."