September 15, 2014 at 4:48 p.m.
Habitat for Humanity, school district team up to build a house
Habitat for Humanity, school district team up to build a house
A special groundbreaking ceremony was held Sunday at what will be the construction site for the new home - the corner of Westhill Drive and Balsam Stree - to cement that partnership.
The project is nothing new for either group. Building houses is something both Habitat for Humanity and the students do every year. This year, however, the two groups are teaming up to the benefit of all involved.
"This project here is actually the first time Habitat in the Northwoods has worked with a local high school," explained Bob Davis, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of the Northwoods.
"The building trades program from Rhinelander High School will actually be the people on-site doing the majority of the construction ... while Habitat will be taking care of all the coordinating with the materials and all the other coordination activities. Really, all the school will need to do is bring the students here and give them an opportunity to learn."
The arrangement is a win-win situation for both sides, Davis said. Habitat doesn't have to worry about finding volunteers for the build while the student construction workers will gain invaluable hands-on experience.
"We've been here since 1998 and we've known that the district has worked within their own system to try and provide an opportunity for the kids here to really get some hands-on learning," he said.
"One of our board members is very knowledgeable and familiar with what the building trades program is all about and we wanted to become an option for them. We wanted to be able to alleviate some of the strain of getting all the materials and everything together. This way, the kids can just go out there and learn."
Building trades instructor Russ Germain concurred, noting that this new partnership will allow his students to focus on learning the skills needed to build a house from start to finish.
"It's going to take a lot of pressure off of us," he said. "Our main objective is to provide the students with a project that's a good learning experience and Habitat's (objective) is to provide a good quality home for someone. This is such a win-win. It's really nice for us. Hopefully this is the start of a long partnership that we can make happen year after year."
For now, though, the focus is on this year. Germain said weather and other factors play a part in planning the project, but the goal is to have the house finished by the end of the school year.
"Usually we try to have the roof up by deer hunting, but we'll see when we get going here. We like to have it buttoned-up by winter," he said.
"We'll work on finishing everything up as we get toward spring and we'll finish up the exterior work and hopefully we'll have something to stand in front of in early June."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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