The area between the Woodshop and 100s wing resembles a compact community with four miniature houses lining the lawn.

As it turns out, Career and Technical Education teacher Robert Patcho worked with his Building and Construction students to build playhouses.

“Last year, we built mini bird houses,” Patch said, and the idea to literally build something bigger came from the students. “So, they suggested, ‘Why don’t we make a bigger house?”

Patcho saw the practical side of the project. “We used construction standards and scaled it down.”

After spending third quarter on the houses, some of the students will take home their completed products, but the remaining houses will be donated to Makalapa Elementary School.

While Building and Construction student Kyle Kent (12) learned some things while working on this project, he has no plans to pursue this field. He intends to major in game design, but said that he would build something like this again; however, “I would do [it] as a hobby.”

Kent also admitted to some challenges that can be found in almost any setting involving group work.

“Working with others can present some problems, especially if someone doesn’t do anything.”

He also said that it was important to make sure measurements were correct, and the lack of available tools actually lengthened the time it took to complete this project.

Classmate Josh Fontanilla (10) said his group shared a similar challenge when “some of our measurements were off, so we had to go back to make changes.”

At the same time, the project has given Fontanilla the confidence to build something for himself. “I would like to  build my own house.”