Galena High School Building Trades Class
By: Jeremiah Cook
Updated: January 18, 2013
GALENA, KS.--- Southeast Galena High School student Gage Girton says he probably won't make construction his career after high school.
"I just think it will be a good thing to know," states Gage Girton, Building Trades Student, Southeast Galena High School.
The high school junior is spending part of his school day helping other students build a home with the school's Building Trades class. Building Trades instructor Dennis Pierson says some of the students won't work in construction.
"They're guaranteed to have a home sometime, and they're going to need to fix that electric socket, they're going to need to repair sheet rock," states Dennis Pierson, Building Trades Instructor.
They're not just using skills Pierson has taught them.
"You've got to talk to everybody that you're working with so that you know what's going on, and math has been a big part of it. Everybody has had to figure up area, and make sure all of their measurements are right before they cut, because we don't want to waste a lot of lumber," states Girton.
For the students who will make building construction homes their career.
"They're getting a lifetime worth of experience right here," says Pierson.
Senior Dusty Walton says the students enjoy being in the class and with each other, but they've faced some challenges, like the day they hung the trusses for the roof.
"Whenever the wind would blow, it would push it over, and you had to keep it up and put on the hurricane brackets," says Dusty Walton, Senior
Regardless of where life takes the students, Pierson says they're leaving a lasting remark on their hometown.
"It's something that they can own themselves, and they'll always have that," says Pierson.
This is the second year the Building Trades class has built a home in Galena. The school owns 8 more lots, and hopes to build a new home each year.
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