Construction Students Break Ground on Habitat for Humanity Home
Updated: Mar. 10, 2022Students from a construction academy in Florida are joining forces with Habitat for Humanity to give back to their community.
Students from Leesburg, Florida broke ground yesterday on a home they will build alongside Habitat for Humanity staffers and professional tradespeople.
According to the Daily Commercial, select students from the Leesburg High School Construction Academy will be participating in the building of the home from start to finish. In order to be eligible for this project, student applicants had to have completed at least a year of courses within the construction academy. They were also required to write an essay explaining why they wanted to be a part of the team.
The land for the house was donated by the city of Leesburg. Local construction professionals will also be donating time and resources to the project, as well as serving as mentors for the students. The home is expected to take a year to build.
“The key goal of the project is opportunity,” Lynnea Weissman, project manager with the district’s Office of College and Career Readiness told the Daily Commercial. “It provides students with the opportunity to give back to the community, the opportunity to learn and practice new skills and the opportunity to be a part of a very special team.”
The LHS Construction Academy received a grant last year that made it possible for the high school to revamp their construction and trades classes, providing students with opportunities to get hands-on in with construction tools. Students in this academy can also eventually become certified in trades that include plumbing, carpentry, and electrical through the National Center for Construction Education and Research.
Last year these students built a float for homecoming. Now they are working on a home for less fortunate members of their community while gaining valuable, real-world experience in what could one day become their career.
