Northland Pioneer College’s Construction Technology program is creating an opportunity for students to learn valuable skills and bringing much-needed housing to Holbrook. The project began on Sept. 3, and provides students, including high school students, the skills to not only help others but also earn a good living.
The site located on California Street, now has all exterior and interior walls and hand placed all trusses on walls. Currently, students are finishing the installation of plywood on roof. According to instructor, Jorge Meza, the goal for this school semester is to get the house dried in, windows installed, roof paper on roof plywood.
Meza explained that the students enrolled in the NPC course include nine Holbrook High school students and three adult community students in the morning class and 12 adult community and reservation students in the afternoon, some of whom travel three hours to get to class.
Through a grant by the Good Jobs Network, construction employers are paid $500 if they hire a student after they complete the program, with incentives up to $1,000. The grant also paid for student tuition and provides tool belts when students complete the CON 102 and CON 111 courses, which are safety and employability classes.
Once the home is complete, it will be sold and the proceeds used to fund the next site and costs for building another home in the city in order to continue the program.
To learn more about NPC’s construction technology program, visit https://www.npc.edu/construction.
