PEARCY -- The construction technology program at Lake Hamilton High School is providing students with real-world experience as they prepare for their future, regardless of whether it is specifically in construction.
"The skills they learn in here are basically how to do stuff themselves," LH construction technology teacher Greg Mundy said. "Stuff that's kind of been lost, because there is a big trades gap. Let's say you want to go build a house or something right now, it's hard to find contractors. And that's what we're kind of pushing these guys to do."
Mundy said the need for this type of work is out there, noting that at last spring's Arkansas SkillsUSA Competition at the Hot Springs Convention Center, companies were hiring students on the spot. SkillsUSA is a partnership between students, teachers and industry that helps students prepare for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations.
"No. 1, it gets a kid where they can actually read one of these," he said, holding up a tape measure. "And that's one of the things they need to be able to do whether they're in the field or not ... whether they're going into carpentry, whether they're going into plumbing. We've had kids that have gone out and become electricians.
"So just because this is a carpentry-based course with woodworking, I've had kids that do some exploring in here and then when they graduate, they may do some carpentry, and then we've got quite a few of them that have gone into other fields and things like that."
The program, he said, is in its fourth year at the school, and they are "just kind of building it as we go." Around 160 students are enrolled in one of the program's three course levels: skilled trades, carpentry, and carpentry lab.
In construction fundamentals, students become certified in Occupational Safety and Health Administration 10 -- a 10-hour training course that provides a general overview of job-related health and safety hazards.
"Nobody likes to sit and do something for 10 hours, but it's something that when they leave here, they can go to the employer and show their employer, 'Hey, I'm certified.' Last year, one of my seniors that graduated, he was actually working a job in construction. His boss told him that he needed to go get OSHA 10 certified and he pulled his card right out of his wallet, and gave it to him. He got a $500 bonus right then just for having his card with him," Mundy said.
Students in the second and third levels are currently building quarter-scale models of an 8-by-10-foot shed they will be producing next spring for a fundraiser. The third level typically involves community service projects. Mundy noted they recently rebuilt the steps at a building on campus, but also have the option to explore different projects they would like to do.
The goal, he said, is to "make this as real world as we can."
"I'm basically Lowe's and they come to me with an order. So I give them the plans, they come to me with an order form that has the lumber that they need based on the full dimensions, like you would walk into Lowe's and get. And I fulfill that order to them and then they go from there," Mundy said.
The program has received several donated supplies the class uses to create projects. He noted that along with Kamo's Kids Foundation and other education partners, a sawmill in Murfreesboro regularly donates cut ends.
In collaboration with the Lake Hamilton Elementary School STEM lab, which works on various projects involving science, technology, engineering, and math, students are pre-cutting materials for birdhouses that STEM students will finish completing in class.
Greg Mundy, construction technology teacher at Lake Hamilton High School, talks about the opportunities available in the construction technology field while in his office. - Photo by Brandon Smith of The Sentinel-Record