Construction class provides Kimball students with real-world experience through school projects
A group of Kimball high school students are leaving their mark on the school while learning valuable skills.
KIMBALL -- A group of Kimball high school students are leaving their mark on the school while learning valuable skills.
Gene Mohr’s construction trades class is nearing the end of a three-month-long project of expanding the library to include a student lounge.
They began by tearing down a portion of the wall in the library that opens into another room. They’ve put up new drywall, built a closet for printers and laminators, and are now in the painting stage.
They have a few weeks left of the finishing touches including installation of cabinets and paneling around the top of the walls, finishing the ceiling tiles, and hanging closet doors and a big barn door where the room transitions into the lounge.
“A lot of our students are taking online classes now, so they need a good quiet room to work,” Mohr said.
This project is just one of many that the class has done over the years.
“We’ve remodeled the student center, remodeled the welding area in the ag shop; we added the decals to the glass on the entryway, and once we get this done, we’re going to be putting in the new scoreboard that the school purchased,” Mohr said.
They also did work on the track, replaced the carpeting in front of all the doors, built the beef board, and did the brick work underneath the scoreboard in the football field.
“And really any little things the school needs, they ask us,” Mohr said.
One student is brand new to the class and two other students have been taking it for a few years.
Mohr said he has seen improvements in the students, and each have grown their own skillset.
“Greg [Bingham] is a really good drywaller, Kaymen [Lusche] is really good with the decals, and Evan [Miller] is still learning so he will get better as he goes,” Mohr said.
The students talk about what they’ve gained by taking the class.
Bingham said, “I learned how to work with a team. I wasn’t really into any of this stuff before, so I think I’ve learned a lot that will help later in life.”
Lusche said, “I don’t know what I want to do after school but having these things – knowing what I’m doing with drywall and all that is a guide to what I could do outside of school.”
Miller said the class is preparing him for a career in construction by learning skills like drywalling and carpeting.
Mohr said he enjoys teaching the kids through a hands-on approach.
“We don’t spend a lot of time in the book; the kids learn a lot more from doing,” Mohr said. “If you give them a test on something, they’ll forget it in a week. If they actually do it, it sticks with them a lot longer.