LAHARPE — Shannon Harrison wasn’t sure what to expect when he greeted roughly 20 high-schoolers last fall who barely knew how to read a tape measurer.
Nevertheless, the inaugural construction trades class has “significantly exceeded anything I thought we could do,” he said, referring to Allen County’s new Regional Rural Tech Center.
Harrison spoke Monday amid the sound of students nailing shingles to four cabins the classes constructed during the school year.
The cabins — built in much the same manner a home would be — will be sold via sealed bid by Fort Scott Community College, which offered the construction trades course.
The tech center, featuring students from Iola, Marmaton Valley and Crest high schools, offers college-level instruction to high-schoolers considering going into such careers as construction. Advanced welding classes will be added in the fall.
Graduating students will receive certification stating they are immediately employable for basic construction, but more than that, the students “have learned skills that they’ll keep for life,” Harrison said.
It’s a far cry from the first days of class, when Harrison realized a vast majority of the students lacked basic building skills.
“I was surprised at that,” Harrison said. “I figured being in a rural area, we’d have some students exposed to construction before this.”
THE COURSE included extensive classroom preparation before students were allowed to pick up their first hammer.
“The first thing we focused on was safety,” Harrison said.
From there, the students learned basic carpentry skills, followed by more advanced course work on such things as roof construction.
By the time the projects started — several months into the class — students had gone through two full textbooks of material.
But then the projects started in rapid fire succession.
The cabins, 17 foot long, by 11 foot wide, with small porches and ventilation fans, are built solidly, Harrison noted.
“They’re fireproof, treated for termites, mold, rot,” he said, all of which should add to the small structures’ life spans. “You could add a window if you wanted.”
Each cabin also was designed to be outfitted with plumbing or electrical service if needed.
There’s one difference between the cabins and a home, Harrison said, in that walls and roofs were assembled with screws, not nails, to make it less susceptible to being damaged if it’s jostled around while being transported.
Harrison already has received blueprints for next year’s project, buildings suited for recreational use at parks and playgrounds.
“It’s leaps and bounds above what we’re doing now,” he promised.
Preliminary counts indicate the construction class will have more than 20 students once again, with Uniontown High School students being added to the mix.
THE TECH center is a collaborative effort between area high schools and community colleges.
The colleges receive state funding to pay for the instructors, while the school districts are responsible for transporting students to the tech center at the old Diebolt Lumber site east of LaHarpe, and for “consumable” materials.
Harrison praised the teams that turned the tech center from a dream into reality.
“The schools and colleges have really allowed us to do what we need to to get these students ready for the workforce,” Harrison said.
A Goppert Foundation grant purchased a series of welders and other equipment for when the welding classes start in the fall.
Other classes, such as nursing, also are being considered.
THE EFFORT continues to draw acclaim from across the educational and professional spectrum, Harrison noted.
“Everybody wants to see this succeed, and it has,” he said.
Ray Maloney, who purchased much of the old Diebolt property, then allowed it to be used for the tech center classes, already has agreed to hire at least two of the outgoing students.
Maloney also continues to press for the tech center to begin building miniature houses, offering to buy the first ones if they are manufactured there.
Harrison said school administrators “would be crazy” not to take Maloney up on his offer.
“I’ve said what I can to support him,” Harrison said. “It’s still something they’re strongly considering.”
LIKEWISE, the program has drawn rave reviews from the students.
Iola High School junior Christian Jackson said the program has aided his dream of joining the Army, where he hopes to focus on construction trades.
“I’d gone through carpentry classes, and I figured I’d try it,” he said. Jackson plans to enroll again at the tech center in the fall to continue his construction education.
“It’s been about what I expected,” he said. “I just like being constructive, building things.”
