Kent ISD — Wyoming seniors Jackson Reed and Bransen Abdalla moved a piece of plywood on sawhorses in preparation to add it to the wall of the pole barn they are helping to build south of the Leffingwell entrance to the Kent ISD campus.
“I enjoy seeing the progress we make as the building goes up,” Jackson said. “It is also cool to be a part of how they built it.”
The students are part of the Kent Career Tech Center’s advanced Applied Construction program for second-year students, and the pole barn is the main project Jackson, Bransen and their classmates are working on this school year.
For several years, students in the program built entire homes, said Justin Stonehouse, Kent ISD facilities supervisor. That ended in 2023 when the program no longer had land on which to build.
Instructor David Beldon said students worked last year on a variety of projects, including helping to build homes for Habitat for Humanity.
With Kent ISD programs continuing to grow, there was a need for more storage space, Stonehouse said, and the pole barn construction provided a hands-on project that aligns with the program’s curriculum.
Once completed, the pole barn will house physical therapy and facilities equipment, and a portion will be open for temporary staging and storing.
Learning in the Field
Contractors were hired to pour the floor and will install the roof of the building; but the rest, such as framing and siding, will be done by the students.
“Actually, we are behind,” said Cedar Springs senior Keenan Jukanovic as he directed peers on the construction of scaffolding as they prepared to move up the wall. “The plywood for the first and top layer were not measured correctly, which required the team to remove all the boards and start again.”
Beldon said that’s all part of learning about construction.
“Sometimes they learn more from a mistake than they do from the project going smoothly,” he said, adding that the timeline factors in corrections and that students only work on the project a few hours a day.
It’s All About Being Hands On
To get the project done by spring means working through the winter months, said Cyndy Morales, a senior at Grand Rapids’ CA Frost Environmental Science Academy. Cyndy admitted she was not looking forward to working in the cold, but said she does enjoy the hands-on experience.
“Construction is my thing,” Cyndy said as she helped put in temporary supports. “I like making things with my hands, and maybe through this I can build my own house one day, because I am learning the basics.”
Wyoming senior Neaven Young prefers being on site versus in a classroom, as he thinks he excels at hands-on learning.
“You get to see the progress,” Neaven explained. “You see the walls go up and you learn on the fly as you go.”
Keenan said he recognizes that the program gives the students life experience along with skills.
“Even if you don’t go into this as a career, you still learn how to do things that you can use in everyday life,” he said. “Last year we learned about drywalling, so now (we) can fix the hole in the drywall.”
Read more from Kent ISD:
• Framing the future
• Agriscience students gain experience, lend hand at Meijer Gardens
