Students gain valuable experience building high-tech home

Posted at: 11/13/2009 7:14 PM | Updated at: 11/13/2009 9:21 PM
By: Joe Bartels, Eyewitness News 4; Charlie Pabst, KOB.com

High school students in Loving get an opportunity to build a variety of skills, all while building a home from the ground up.

Students cut the ribbon on their project Friday, which features a lot of new technology.

The students finally got a chance to show off the project they've worked so hard to create.

A new home is the source of pride for students and teachers alike.

"You can't describe the rewards, or the feeling of the accomplishment of the milestone," instructor Brigido Garcia said Friday.

The new home features some of the latest technologies used in home construction.

From the foundation up, the high school students were responsible for learning how to piece it all together.

Student Sam Bass said, "When I came into this build, I didn't know how to build anything, so I now have a little bit of knowledge of building a house and I'm taking college classes to get into the construction field."

Students installed wireless technology throughout the house, and used green materials to help insulate the walls.

Instructors say their biggest challenge was keeping kids away from the site.

Instructor Brigido Garcia said, "The hardest part was getting them to focus on learning, and not on building: 'We want to go to the site; lets do this first.' Wait a minute; we have to learn what we are going to do first."

It took the students 13 months and nearly three dozen students, but the home is finally move-in ready.

The program will start a second home that includes solar power and other technologies in a few weeks.

The school district went to the legislature and got corporate sponsorship from companies, including Microsoft, to build the home.

The first home is now in the process of being sold for $147,000, which officials say will be used to start the second project.

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