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Cienega High School Construction Technology Students Helping To Build Their Community
VAIL - March 31, 2009 - Students don't just learn about theories and listen to lectures during Michael Keck's Construction Technology class at Cienega High School.
No, Keck takes a much more active approach. While a fair amount of the learning might come from classroom lectures and books, Keck’s students are applying what they’re learning in a very real way. And the community of Vail is a better place because of it.
Keck’s students are midway through a very ambitious project – they’re in the process of completing a four-building complex that began with the completion of an on-campus preschool that currently serves 200 students.
After witnessing Keck’s students’ success with the preschool building, the Vail District decided to let Keck’s students begin work on an administration building and a classroom building for the Pima County Joint Technological Education District’s Early Childhood Education Program. A fourth building is also planned.
Keck said the opportunity to first begin working on the preschool, which will benefit the Vail community for years to come, arose from an economic challenge. Keck’s students were already improving people’s lives with their blossoming construction skills – they just needed to find a way to help that was more economically feasible and a little closer to home.
“This all began two-and-a-half years ago,” Keck explained. “Originally we had a successful two-year partnership where the students were building homes with Habitat for Humanity. Eventually, the costs of the land and moving a home from our campus to Tucson just became too much…
“At the same time, classroom space is at a premium in our district, and there was a big need in our community for this preschool. That’s how we came upon the idea for the preschool project.”
Keck said without contributions from local developers and the school district itself, the students’ work on the four-building complex wouldn’t be possible.
While licensed professionals are needed to complete some phases of the four-building project, Keck says the 66 students currently working on the complex are gaining valuable experience in framing, installing doors and windows, assisting with electrical wiring, hanging sheetrock and painting and installing cabinets and countertops.
At a recent Open House event, Cienega High School Principal Tricia Pena reminded students that they may someday point out a building in the complex to their children and say, “I built your school.”
“Education is a community effort, and this is what it is all about – teaching students how to build our own habitat,” Pena said.
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