By Anyssa Alonso
“..I thought it would be a good experience,” stated senior Jon Smith about his reasoning for taking the Building Trades course at Crossroads Academy. The Building Trades course provides students with the knowledge and skills they need for a future relating to construction. The course is vocational, extends through the entire school year, and is available to local students during regular school hours. The class is taught by Mr. McKinnis and challenges students to reach their highest potential.
The class is hands on, allowing students to become better acquainted with the skills a lot of them will need for future jobs. “My future work plans are to go to college,” shares senior Ricardo Luva, “[to] learn more about construction and working for a construction company.” Not a day passes without the learning and application of new and useful skill in this course. “[A typical day of class consists of] Mr. McKinnis trying to give each student the opportunity to work on a variety of different jobs,” reflects Smith.
Students learn many skills however, focus on the skills needed to construct a house. The main goal for the students of this course is to, “Build a house, duh!,” Smith said. From the concrete foundation to the knob on the front door, these students do it all. “It takes a lot of time and effort because you’re constantly doing something in the house,” explains Luva. The construction on a house is no easy task, especially for first timers. “..I give 110%,” Smith states.
Along with students’ hard work, are their developing interests. “[My favorite project in the class is] working in the crawl space,” shares Smith. “My favorite project is putting up dry wall,” adds Luva. The jobs required to build an entire house are plentiful, however they are no barrier to the skills of the knowledgeable Building Trades students under the watchful eye of instructor Mr. McKinnis.
Once the house is completed, in its entirety, it is put up for sale to the community. “My experience building an entire house was good,” shares Luva, “because.. it felt really good getting it done.” The community takes notice of the amazing work the students do. “The house was sold right when we were done,” adds Luva. In order for the house to be put up for sale, in the community, it must meet retail standards. The construction of professionals is required. Although students are not licensed professionals, they leave the course with knowledge like one.
“I think it’s very knowledgeable taking this class,” states Smith, “You learn a lot about how many people are involved and how much time goes into a job like this.” Although Luva has taken this course for two years, it is Smith’s first year and he said that if he would have taken the class previously, “it would have been a blast.” The students taking this course are determined and prone to, in Luva’s opinion, “working hard and getting the job done.”