New Palestine High School students David Ryan and Gilberto Camacho along with senior Brock Whitaker and junior Colton Wise, size up the work needed to finish up the foundation of their tiny house.
NEW PALESTINE — Three students took the bag of cement, poured almost half of it into a wheelbarrow, added a little water and started mixing. The end goal, make some blocks to be the base for the tiny structure they’re building in a new class called construction trade 1 being offered at New Palestine High School this year.
Last year officials with the Southern Hancock School District opted to add eight new classes designed to prep students for the workforce immediately after graduation. This new hands-on construction class is being taught by Tim Tarplee, a new teacher who was brought onboard to help prepare students with real life skills.
“So far, the kids have gone through the foundation steps,” Tarplee said. “We’ve poured the strip footing and are doing a block foundation on one side and a poured foundation on the other side.”
Various hands-on skills and overall construction knowledge are things the students are learning about. Tarplee likes the fact he’s teaching the students skills they can use the rest of their life or for work if they decide to go into this type of trade.
“I tell the kids they’re learning skills that will come in handy one day when they own their own home, or they can make a lot of money knowing this skill set,” Tarplee said.
So far, the district has eight students in construction trade 1 and they’ll offer construction trade 2 next semester. The district had to hire Tarplee to help out teacher Dave Post who couldn’t handle all the students wanting to learn these types of hands-on skills causing them to alternate between manufacturing and construction every other year.
“We’re offering a principles of construction class, too, with several sections, and that class has over 50 students in it,” Tarplee said.
Next year, they’re planning on bringing in a heavy construction, or heavy highway construction type of class, giving students who like to work with their hands four different pathways — construction, heavy construction, manufacturing and engineering — toward graduation.
“They’ll be learning skills in vertical and horizontal construction,” Tarplee said.
District Communications Director Wes Anderson said officials are trying to be proactive and prepare students for the workforce after state leaders tasked districts around the state with giving students multiple pathways to graduation, knowing workers are needed right away and that not all high school students will continue on to college.
“We’d love to someday have our own full trade area, so kids don’t have to go to other districts to learn hands-on skills,” Anderson said.
The new classes this year are part of the state’s Career and Technical Education program, which means the state will provide funding per student per how many times the class is offered. The amount of money provided will depend on the rating level of the classes. As an example, the construction trades 2 class is a $600 reimbursement.
New Palestine High School junior Gilberto Camacho already works in construction in his spare time and said the class gives him an opportunity to learn more.
“I’ve been doing construction for about two years now to make some money, and here I’m learning some more specialized techniques,” Camacho said. “This is really, really a good class and I know a lot of people who are really enjoying it. I know, personally, I love this class and if I could do it all day, I would.”
He hopes to continue on and become a home builder.
New Palestine High School senior Chase Ankney is taking the class to learn a few extra skills before he graduates. He plans to become a diesel technician but said learning other skills will be a plus.
“I’m very much a hands-on kind of guy, and I don’t really like just sitting around so this kind of class gets me going and I’m learning a lot,” Ankney said.
He said it’s been neat learning how to do an actual home foundation and can’t wait to see what else they’ll learn as they continue on with the build. Once the build is complete in several months, they’ll take it all apart.
“This group here is basically in the process of creating an erector set we’ll use for the next couple of years,” Tarplee said. “This way we’re not burning through lumber every year and we can use the lumber for years.”
