Students enrolled in the Construction Technology Academy at the Shelby County College and Career Center have been busy all semester applying the skills they are learning in the classroom.  In addition to the first ever belt sander race competition held earlier this year, the students have also been working on several other projects including two that are helping to improve their campus.

The construction students partnered with the landscaping program to enclose one end of the greenhouses in order to protect plants from cold winter temperatures.  The students helped frame in the end of the greenhouses then later helped to install a ventilation system.

The students are currently working to replace an old ramp in front of their classroom.  The students are working to completely rebuild the structure in order to bring it back up to code specifications.

The biggest project of the semester was the construction of the top section of a gabled roof structure.  The students not only learned how to construct the gabled section, but also about the various ways to roof the structure.  According to instructor Van White, the students put a metal roof on one side and a shingled roof on the other.  They also learned how to do cedar shakes on one section of the roof and as siding on the gable of one end of the structure.

White said the project took several months and evolved as the students were forced to make changes to satisfy the wishes of a fictional customer.

“Our ‘customer’ kept changing her mind about what she wanted,” Van said. “She decided she wanted a dormer added to the roof, along with a fancy window.  They had to make these adjustments as we went further along into the project.”