The MSHS construction classes continue to work on the housebuild that was started last year. Much progress has been made even though there have been some challenges for the students to combat such as breaking windows and shipments. The house is expected to be finished in September 2026.
Every year the construction classes at MSHS build a house to get experience and expand their skills in construction. The process usually takes about 2-3 years to finish since the students only have a fixed amount of time to work on the house.
Brad Borkowski, the construction and woodshop teacher at MSHS hopes that the house build will be finished next September but his goal is to get it done sooner than that. “The goal is to try to have it done by May, but it will probably end up being next September when we have it all the way done,” Borkowski said.
Borkowski and his students have just finished up the roof and their next step is to “dry in the house” which means the interior is safe from the elements once the framing is done. “We just got the roof all finished up for framing, and then we need the windows and doors put in,” Borkowski said.
Borkowski feels that the biggest setback that they have had on the housebuild this year is that the windows they got kept breaking. “I had no space to store them, and since they were laying flat, which is just not good to lay windows flat like that, they just ended up cracking,” Borkowski said.
Kosse Berry, a sophomore at MSHS feels that one of the biggest challenges this year has been waiting for materials that they need for the build to be delivered. “Just waiting on shipments and stuff to come in has really been the biggest setback,” Berry said.
After getting the roof done, they are now working on the interior of the house. “Now we’re just on detail work and putting up all the actual stuff that goes into a normal house,” JT Vollaire, a sophomore working on the house build, said.
Borkowski feels that his biggest challenge this year was working on the roof because students aren’t allowed to work up there due to safety measures. “Working on the roof has been a challenge because I do that by myself,” Borkowski said.
Borkowski states that after the windows and frames get done, they will have professionals come in to work on plumbing and electrical. “We can now get our plumbing, our electrical and our HVAC guys to come in and start doing all that work,” Borkowski said, “that’s going to start happening here soon.”
Borkowski feels that it usually takes longer to build the house than other housebuilds because of scheduling with his classes. “Timelines are really thrown off, so we kind of go off that basic timeline,” Borkowski said. “But I just have to factor in that we’re only seeing we’re only working every other day, and we’re only working for three, one and a half hour increments.”
Berry feels that the construction classes at MSHS give students a lot of opportunities to experience what a job in construction is really like. “I’d say probably the most exciting part about the housebuild is getting the experience of what it’s like to actually be in the field of construction.”
