When people talk about the rewards of education, they just might be referring to Frontier Collegiate’s building construction program.
Not only have students been gaining valuable carpentry skills, the fruits of their labour are yielding brand new homes for families in Cranberry Portage.
“There are a lot of positive outcomes,” said Cam Hobden, an instructor with one of two building construction courses offered at the high school.
The construction program is a centrepiece of Frontier’s Northern Tech-nical Centre, based in a refurbished airport hangar at the south end of Cranberry Portage.
Construction has been taught for the past seven years, but over the last two years students have stepped things up by building two 1,200-sq-ft homes for Manitoba Housing.
The homes, which include full basements, have been moved onto lots within walking distance of the Northern Technical Centre.
Hobden said that while a few aspects of construction were contracted out to professionals, the students were essentially responsible for the finished product.
“I’ll show them examples, but it’s really all them,” he said. “They do the work, and if they screw it up, they tear it down and they do it again, and if they screw it up a second time they tear it down and they do it a third time.”
Students who successfully complete the construction program earn eight high school credits as well as college-level credits. Students who achieve 70 per cent or better in all courses also gain their level one carpentry apprenticeship.
But Hobden said the benefits go beyond the academic sphere to foster a greater sense of self-esteem and accomplishment among students.
Hobden, who has about 30 years of experience in construction, said the goal moving forward is to build two houses a year through a standing contract with Manitoba Housing.
