Latest / Inside the OSD / S1 E16 - Home Construction Class Ft. Chris Prahl

Transcript

S1 E16 - Home Construction Class Ft. Chris Prahl · Inside the OSD

0:04
SPEAKER1: Each year, students in our high school construction class have the opportunity to build a home.
0:10
In this episode, we are visiting the construction site to see how it's going.
0:14
This is going to be fun!
0:19
SPEAKER2: Welcome to this episode of Inside the OSD podcast, where it's all about the kids.
0:24
Here is your host.
0:25
Lifelong educator, and our superintendent, Dr.
0:28
Leslie Bergstrom.
0:34
SPEAKER1: I'm here with Chris Prahl, educator at Oregon High School and the instructor of our home construction class.
0:41
And we're actually on site at the construction site.
0:44
So could you please start by introducing yourself to our listeners and your role at OHS?
0:49
SPEAKER3: So I'm Chris Prahl and I work at the Oregon High School.
0:53
In the mornings, I start out in a job site with about 15 students to provide them some real world experience, again, teaching them some skills, knowledge,
1:03
attitude to be successful.
1:05
And then in the afternoons when the students return to the high school, I also go back and teach some afternoon classes.
1:13
SPEAKER1: Well as our listeners can hear, this construction site is buzzing.
1:17
So tell us a little bit about the home construction class, how long you've been doing it, how it's structured.
1:23
I mean, the kids turn out amazing products.
1:26
This home is beautiful.
1:28
SPEAKER3: So the school district started this program around 2001, and then I've been doing it for about 17 years now, which is starting to get
1:38
get up there.
1:41
Wow! Which is which is starting to get crazy.
1:44
And we're actually starting to have students that did this program prior that are now in the trades, revisiting this and helping as the skilled
1:54
labor, helping the students out as the plumbers, electricians, HVAC installers and so on.
2:00
Just kind of neat.
2:01
SPEAKER1: That's been amazing.
2:02
So knowing that it's been 17 years, what kind of changes have you seen over the years and how has the class evolved over time?
2:12
SPEAKER3: I think over the years you just kind of learn.
2:15
Obviously the building science has changed.
2:18
A lot more emphasis on energy efficiency and building green, using sustainable renewable materials.
2:26
You see the market go up and go down.
2:29
The students start to understand the realtor aspect, the banking, financial aspect a little bit, interest rates, things they probably never thought of,
2:39
and then the job market as well for the students.
2:41
Once they are graduating and finishing up the program.
2:46
Some years it's more heavy in the trades, some years it's more heavy on post-secondary education depending on the market.
2:55
SPEAKER1: I love that the students are learning such a well-rounded -- or having such a well-rounded experience because of course they're learning the trades.
3:02
But I didn't even really think about the fact that they're also learning about the real estate market and the banking industry.
3:08
Because you talk about, I'm sure, where the price is set for the home and what features add value and what features are sort of neutral.
3:17
And I think that they probably take away a super well-rounded experience.
3:22
SPEAKER3: Right. Like now, as we get to the end of this, we start to have clients and realtors.
3:29
The appraiser came through yesterday, and so it opens up a whole different type of conversations with people aside from what we're doing with the trades that
3:37
have been coming in and talking about prices for materials and how much, you know, a two by four is and a pack of shims.
3:43
And at the end of the day, how it all adds up to that final cost for the finished product.
3:48
SPEAKER1: I think they're also learning a bit about design too, because you have a lot of really beautiful design features in the homes you've done over the years.
3:56
SPEAKER3: Right. And that's the other thing that's kind of interesting and fun is how the design has changed from white wood or stained wood and what type of flooring and
4:06
colors of flooring and how they all keep kind of cycling through and how the -- how the design changes and the HGTV and Pinterest effects.
4:16
SPEAKER1: That is so true.
4:17
That is -- how do you keep on top of that?
4:19
I mean, who decides --you have this beautifully designed kitchen upstairs.
4:22
Who decided how to make that happen?
4:24
How is that done?
4:25
SPEAKER3: So in the past, it used to be me staying up with all the trends.
4:31
But in the last couple of years we've been able to partner up with the local builder, Tim O'Brien, and they hire some interior designers who also work with
4:39
us as well. And they're able to share their knowledge with us to stay stay up to date.
4:44
SPEAKER1: That's going to take a little bit off your shoulders, a little less HGTV watching for you.
4:48
So that's that's a good thing.
4:50
SPEAKER3: We share what we know with Miss Buyarski because she's still around.
4:54
SPEAKER1: That's good. That's good.
4:55
How has this particular project been going?
4:58
SPEAKER3: This one's been going really well.
5:01
Every project has its, you know, struggles.
5:05
This one, just because of, as we talked about earlier, market -- market factors, materials and things, labor, everything's been slow,
5:14
delayed, back ordered, you know, so things that typically took a couple of weeks now could take a month and a half to get, you know.
5:22
So some things have delayed us by, you know, four weeks plus just to wait on things that -- that are out of our control.
5:29
And so they start to learn, like, you know, the world doesn't revolve around a bell schedule.
5:35
And and, you know, the climate isn't always you know 70 degrees that -- that it changes.
5:40
So it's a lot of those real world experiences that they -- they start to learn.
5:44
SPEAKER1: Well, everything that you're describing, you can see that it's going to lead a tremendous growth in students and their skills.
5:51
So tell us a little bit about the specific skills that students develop over the course of this class.
5:58
SPEAKER4: Right. So big picture, they get
6:00
SPEAKER3: to work with a group of 15 individuals for one goal and they have to communicate and problem solve together to solve different tasks every day that vary and
6:08
different and they really never know what they're going to encounter.
6:11
They may think they're going to be doing one thing and then all of a sudden a problem erupts, you know, because just, you know, just because 2 45 degree
6:18
angles equal 90 in the classroom, it doesn't really work that way in the job site.
6:25
And so they have to figure that out.
6:27
And then specifically, they get into, you know, the tile, the trim, the framing, the drywall, insulation, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, whether they're
6:36
doing it themselves or some licensed contractors show up to work with us as well.
6:41
You know, they're involved in every aspect.
6:43
SPEAKER1: So they learn specific trades related skills.
6:48
They learn collaboration skills, problem solving skills.
6:52
I mean, it really sounds like, you know, the OSD Portrait of a Graduate, to be honest with you.
6:57
It sounds like an experience that is really honing in all of the skills that are articulated in that.
7:04
What are the prerequisites for this course?
7:07
SPEAKER3: Right. So it varies.
7:10
We have some intro construction classes, some woodworking classes that we encourage the students to take and then depending on which applicants, because
7:20
the students have to apply like a job and then we have to sort it out and kind of figure out which students might be best served, not necessarily the best
7:29
GPAs, but what students might benefit the most.
7:32
So we kind of have to factor in all
7:34
those different things.
7:36
And some students we may lean more towards like a
7:40
School-to-career youth options.
7:41
Yes. Program as well.
7:43
SPEAKER1: Because there are certainly students who are placed with builders or plumbers.
7:49
Et cetera. So we have students who are in the trades.
7:51
This isn't the only way to get that experience in high school.
7:55
Exactly.
7:56
SPEAKER3: So we -- this one's great because it allows so much career exploration and real world experience.
8:01
But then the students who know specifically what they want to do, if they want to be a plumber, they want to go into HVAC or framing.
8:09
We have a lot of community partners, so for next year we already have maybe 10 or 12 students signed up with local contractors to do school to work already
8:18
that we're doing.
8:19
So, you know, we we have a large number of interest.
8:22
And so it's great that the school district supports, you know, students to pursue other options besides just a four year degree.
8:30
SPEAKER1: Well, there are lots of roads to success.
8:33
Right? And so we want to make sure we're allowing kids to explore for everything that they find interesting and challenging and that builds those
8:41
really important skills that you spoke about that are applicable to anything they decide to do later.
8:45
So I can see this is a super busy place.
8:48
There are kids coming in and out.
8:49
So I thank you for your time.
8:52
And now we're going to go see how the students are doing.
8:56
Thanks for visiting. Hello.
9:00
We're here to share a little bit about this project with our listeners.
9:03
So can you start by introducing yourselves, your name, your grade in school?
9:07
We'll just go down the line here.
9:09
SPEAKER5: Cameron Mueller. I'm a senior.
9:12
My name is Joey Zuhlke.
9:13
I'm also a senior.
9:14
I'm Hunter Andrew and I am a senior as well.
9:18
SPEAKER1: Can you tell us a little bit about what you're working on right now?
9:22
SPEAKER5: Right now we're doing, like, trim around the door frames while other people are doing the trim on the ground.
9:27
And we've also been working on siding outside, too.
9:30
We've just been like rotating back and forth.
9:32
Like when there's warm days and cold days, we're inside.
9:35
SPEAKER1: And so today you consider today a cooler day and that's why you're inside.
9:39
Okay. Because it probably doesn't get super warm for you guys, right, before you finish?
9:45
SPEAKER6: It'll get warmer in next week.
9:48
And it was really nice last week, but.
9:50
SPEAKER1: Last week was great.
9:51
So last week you were doing siding.
9:54
Wow. All right.
9:55
Tell us a little bit about that.
9:57
What was that like?
9:58
Who taught you how to do that?
10:00
What were some of the challenges?
10:03
SPEAKER6: Challenges were mainly just getting access to where we had to put it.
10:06
Being high up in the air on scaffolding or on ladders.
10:09
Yeah.
10:10
SPEAKER5: And, uh, Prahl taught us most of it.
10:14
Like how to put it up and then he checks it.
10:15
We also -- another challenge was making sure we keep it level because the pieces all have to be level.
10:20
Otherwise, when you stand back, you can see that it's all crooked.
10:22
Yeah. Yeah, I bet that would be hard.
10:25
SPEAKER1: Have you had to do that?
10:27
Have you had to rip something off and redo it as part of the learning process?
10:30
SPEAKER5: We've had to do it once or twice.
10:31
SPEAKER1: Yeah. I mean, that's just part of learning, right?
10:34
Have you know, I know Mr.
10:35
Prahl is always coming in and checking what you're doing, but have you had other contractors that have checked on it or do you just watch the other
10:42
contractors? How does that work?
10:46
SPEAKER5: Um, the other contractors help us.
10:48
There was a couple guys that came and did like flooring and we split up in smaller groups.
10:52
And then each contractor will take like a couple of us and then they'll help show us and we'll work on it too.
10:57
Wow. So we hung the cabinets with like a guy that did the cabinets.
11:01
We helped with the bricks on the front with masonry.
11:04
So they like -- and they've been really good at.
11:06
They like, walk us through how to do it.
11:08
And then they'll show us and then they'll like, we'll, we'll help them do it, too.
11:12
SPEAKER1: That is -- that's such an amazing learning experience.
11:15
How many different things you guys have gotten to do.
11:17
So tell me, though, what's been your favorite?
11:22
SPEAKER6: My favorite was drywall.
11:24
Really? Yeah.
11:25
Just get to move fast.
11:27
Kind of like, close everything out.
11:28
Pretty simple.
11:31
SPEAKER5: My favorite was probably, like, framing all the walls.
11:33
Like, one of the first things we did here, I just thought that was fun.
11:36
Framing them and putting them all up, forming the first part of the house.
11:39
Nice. I'll go different.
11:41
I really enjoyed siding because it's outside and also because you can both of those.
11:46
You can also, but you can really see the difference.
11:48
Like once you, like, finish the side, you like step back and like the whole house looks completely different.
11:52
Yeah.
11:53
SPEAKER1: Okay. So what's been the most challenging?
11:56
What's been -- what's required the greatest learning curve or the steepest learning curve?
12:03
SPEAKER6: I, I'd say probably siding honestly because it's all super finished product and a small mistake early, you'll have to almost completely
12:13
restart.
12:14
SPEAKER1: Yeah.
12:16
SPEAKER5: I'd say for me it was the drywall because you have to put the screw in all the studs, but you can't see the studs anymore.
12:22
So you kind of have to get a feel for how far each of the studs are apart.
12:26
And once you get it down, it's a lot easier.
12:27
But I struggled at first, Yeah, I would say putting up all the Tyvek around the house so it waterproofs it.
12:34
That took like forever.
12:35
And with the wind, the wind really messed us up.
12:37
Like we would have it all out and the wind would just, like, blow it all off and it just took forever.
12:41
SPEAKER1: That sounds frustrating.
12:43
Yeah. So Mr.
12:45
Prahl talked a lot about the importance of collaboration and everybody working together.
12:51
Can you give me some good examples of that?
12:55
SPEAKER6: The Tyvek is a great example.
12:57
I mean, we're -- it's huge pieces of paper trying to cover large portions on the side of the house.
13:03
And if you don't have two people, it's just impossible to do.
13:06
SPEAKER1: It sounds like it.
13:09
SPEAKER5: We've done it a lot with doing siding while us three are up on the scaffolding like a certain part of the house or whatever.
13:14
There's people doing siding on the ground too.
13:15
So then if we, like, need something, they'd grab it for us and toss it up to us.
13:19
That way we didn't have to, like move everything, climb all the way down, do it, climb all the way up and pass it up to each other.
13:24
And then for like drywall also, it takes like two people to hold the drywall up and two people to screw it into the wall.
13:30
So it was just kind of like a big group thing to do all that.
13:34
SPEAKER1: You don't get to do very much by yourselves, right?
13:36
It's all about working with other people.
13:38
Yeah. So when you think about the specific skills that you're building and you also think about the skills like collaboration and problem solving.
13:47
How do you imagine you're going to use what you've learned this year in your future?
13:52
SPEAKER5: Um, this has made me a lot more comfortable asking for help when I need it.
13:55
And so we're just trying to face the problem ourself because you can kind of but then if you don't know what you're doing, you just mess it up and then you
14:01
have to ask for help anyway. So it's easier to just ask right away.
14:04
SPEAKER1: That's an important skill.
14:05
That's amazing.
14:08
SPEAKER6: I would just say like in the future,
14:09
SPEAKER5: like, it's easier if you have, like, help with things instead of like trying to go everything by yourself because you'll just probably make it harder for
14:15
yourself.
14:19
SPEAKER1: What do you guys want to do next year?
14:21
What's your plan?
14:22
Anything?
14:24
SPEAKER6: I'm going to UW Platteville.
14:27
Currently undecided, but.
14:30
SPEAKER1: Platteville is your next stop.
14:31
SPEAKER5: Okay. I'm going to MATC, but just for, like, my Gen Eds because I don't know really quite yet what I want to do.
14:39
So it gives me more time to think.
14:40
SPEAKER1: Absolutely.
14:41
SPEAKER5: I'm going to go into the Navy.
14:43
SPEAKER1: Oh, wow. All right.
14:44
So you all have your next step ready to go.
14:46
And I'm sure that you're going to be using a lot of what you learned building a home and whatever else you do.
14:52
Yeah, So that's pretty cool.
14:55
Anything you want to say to other students who are considering signing up for this class?
15:00
SPEAKER5: Well, if you like actually working hard and do it, it's not I mean, don't take it just because you think it's going to be a super easy class, because if you
15:08
don't enjoy doing it, you're not going to have fun at all.
15:10
You actually have to like doing being hands on and you love it.
15:14
SPEAKER1: He summed it up, Huh?
15:15
Okay. Okay.
15:17
All right. Thank you very much.
15:21
So I'm here with another student.
15:23
So can we start by you introducing yourself, your name and your grade in school?
15:28
SPEAKER5: I'm Taylor Kramer, and I'm a
15:30
SPEAKER7: senior at the high school.
15:31
SPEAKER1: And, Taylor, this is your second year working on a house.
15:35
So what is it that made you come back?
15:37
SPEAKER7: What made me come back was that every year is different and every day is different too.
15:43
You have different tasks each day.
15:46
Nothing's ever the same.
15:48
The people you work with isn't the same every day.
15:50
Obviously. It's the same group of people all year long.
15:52
But you really get to know everyone on the house too, and it's outside.
15:57
That's really fun.
15:58
Not having to spend a whole day inside at school has been so nice.
16:02
SPEAKER1: So what are you working on right now?
16:04
SPEAKER7: I'm currently working on trim in the bathroom.
16:08
It's super meticulous with it being a finished trim this year.
16:13
We cannot make mistakes, have it too short, have the wrong angles or anything because they're unable to come in and refinish it.
16:20
So it's been super meticulous this year, but it's been able to keep us on our toes.
16:25
SPEAKER1: So what's been your favorite part about working on the two homes right now?
16:31
SPEAKER7: Um, I would have to say the group of people that I'm with, they make it fun.
16:36
They make it worth it.
16:38
The laughs you have, the days where you're frustrated and they're able to help you make it worth it.
16:44
SPEAKER1: Oh, that's so nice. So for you, a lot of it is the people.
16:47
That's really cool.
16:49
What's been the most challenging thing?
16:51
Um,
16:52
SPEAKER7: also the people, I would say.
16:55
Definitely that because again, um, when you're frustrated sometimes, you know, they think, "oh, let's just make a joke and it'll be fine" or "it's a little
17:04
mistake, it'll be fine.
17:05
Someone else will fix it." And so it's a little frustrating because then sometimes you have to be back and you have to fix it.
17:10
SPEAKER1: Yeah, absolutely.
17:12
So how do you think you're going to use the skills that you're learning here?
17:16
How will you use those in your future?
17:18
SPEAKER7: Um, so some skills that I actually learned from this is people skills and I'm wanting to go into nursing.
17:25
So people skills is a huge thing that -- yeah.
17:28
So being able to work with the people that are difficult or easy going is something I really needed to learn.
17:34
So this definitely helped with that and just the construction aspect.
17:38
I love to build things as a hobby of mine, so being able to learn more and how to build a legit house is hopefully helping me in the
17:48
future.
17:48
SPEAKER1: If I ever decide to build my own.
17:50
That's terrific. Thank you.
17:52
What's next for you? What are you going to do next year?
17:55
SPEAKER7: I plan on attending at UW Green Bay for nursing.
17:58
SPEAKER1: Oh, congratulations.
18:00
That's terrific. Remember that you can find links to all episodes of Inside the OSD and submit topic ideas on our website at
18:09
OregonSD.org/podcast. You can find this podcast anywhere you can find podcasts.
18:17
Make sure to subscribe if you're listening on one of these apps to get notifications on the most recent episodes.
18:23
We'll see you next time on Inside the OSD, where it's all about the kids.