Westlake students build house, then give it away… for the 8th time – Palm Beach Post

Teenagers at Seminole Ridge High School partner with Habitat for Humanity to gain marketable skills and learn the value of community

WESTLAKE - Seventeen-year-old Danielle Shumard is building a house framing, plumbing, electric, everything.

The 1,200-square-foot residence will have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a front porch and a shed by the time she is finished.

And then she will give it away.

The junior at the Weitz Academy of Construction at Seminole Ridge Community High School in Westlake is one of 170 students in six classes working together to build the modular house.

It will be the schools eighth since partnering with Habitat for Humanity in 2005 on a project that teaches kids marketable skills while helping those in need.

"We rely on each other every day for everything," Shumard says about her fellow students. "When everybody comes together and is working hard, thats when you really see it pay off."

The school provides the tools, work space and kid power, and Habitat for Humanity donates most of the materials. The remainder of supplies come from local residents or businesses.

Upon its expected completion on Tuesday, the four modules that make up the home will be trucked to Belle Glade, where they will be assembled and the finishing touches applied before being presented to a deserving family.

"I want to be there," Shumard says. "Weve seen pictures and videos, and the looks on their faces when the houses get there its nice."

Under the supervision of faculty, local contractors and county inspectors, students build each house from the ground up, studying safety and learning basic construction while also developing architectural design, engineering and project management skills.

"Drywall is fun for me," Shumard says about her favorite task. "You see the walls when they are bare, and then you see something go up, and youre like, this house is actually going to go somewhere!"

The Weitz Academy of Construction is one of six academy programs construction, automotive, television production, biotechnology, information technology and ROTC that attract students from all over the county.

Shumard, who is also in ROTC, plans to attend college and become a construction manager. But not every student is as focused.

"Ive got kids that want to be engineers and kids that dont know what they want to do," says teacher Rick Terkovich who modeled the construction program after a similar one in Marathon. "To me, thats the beauty of this. We give kids the opportunity to do it all."

The teens learn what they do and do not like to do while they develop skills that can help them get into good colleges or make them immediately marketable in the working world.

"Recruiters are coming in because they dont have enough people," says Principal James Campbell of the demand for students graduating from the construction program. "They know these kids know what theyre doing."

While many graduates plan to attend college, not everyone has the desire or means to do so. And because of todays lack of qualified construction industry workers, any kid who wants a job when they graduate typically gets one right away, Campbell says.

"The pendulum shifted too far toward Everybody must go to college," Campbell says. "College is certainly a path we want to encourage, but there are other routes you can take to a successful career."

At 16, Blake Farnham already knows more than many adults about construction.

"If something breaks, I can help fix plumbing or help with electric," he says.

Farnham is in his third year of the construction program. He plans to attend college for chemical engineering and says hes proud of accomplishing the daunting task of mastering the many skills required to build a house.

"It definitely boosts my confidence, because then I can help other people," he says. "Like freshmen next year . . . Ill be able to tell them how to do it properly."

Plus, the class is fun.

"Instead of just a boring class, he jokes around," Farnham says about Terkovich. "Hes not a mean teacher he is fun to be around."

For Terkovich, a fun-loving jokester with undeniable reverence for his students, the feeling is mutual.

"I have a lot of fun working with kids seeing them succeed and seeing a family get a home," he says. "That, and my wife makes me come to work. She wont let me stay home."

wrhodes@pbpost.com

@WendyRhodesFL

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Westlake students build house, then give it away... for the 8th time - Palm Beach Post