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Home schooling: Brookline High class raises the roof on opportunities
By Tenley Woodman
Monday, November 14, 2005 - Updated: 01:27 PM EST
Some high school industrial arts classes make birdhouses. Brookline High School’s construction engineering class takes that project a whole lot further.
From 7:15 to 10:30 a.m. each school day, students build a two-level Cape-style house in a parking lot on campus.
In June, the house will be completed. It will be equipped with a full- and half-bath, electricity, heat, two bedrooms, dining room and kitchen.
“This is much better, and it’s hands on,” said Wilson Torres, a junior, about this class.
Torres and senior Paul Dubrow said building also helps them apply math, their favorite subject, to something tangible.
“It’s easier working with it in front of you,” said Dubrow, 17, while supervising other classmates on the site.
The project has been a year in the making. Last year’s class worked on getting the necessary permits and designing the house.
Peter Lee, who teaches the class, is a licensed construction supervisor.
In previous years his classes have renovated houses in Brookline and done odd jobs in the school.
“Parental pressure said, ‘We want the kids to learn construction,’ ” Lee said.
Dan Prager, a junior in Lee’s architecture class, used the computer program Auto Cad to draw the blueprints.
“Mr. Lee gave me the size and told me to figure out what goes inside,” said the 16-year-old. “The initial design took a week, then there was trial and error.”
Prager hopes to become an architect and attend Rhode Island School of Design or Cooper Union in Manhattan.
The unique experience gives Prager and aspiring construction workers such as Dubrow and Torres a chance to hone their craft.
“I wouldn’t expect to come into a high school class and build a house,” said Torres, 16.
They also experience the pros and cons of the workplace. The class numbers 15, but on average only 12 show up.
“If people were here every day, we could get it done faster,” Torres said. “It takes a lot of dedication.”
Lee said those who do show up come early and are eager to work.
“I liked it when we got our new tools. It was kind of like Christmas,” said sophomore Conor Barney, 15.
Lee is unsure of what will happen to the completed house. Options being discussed include its use in a Brookline park or selling it.
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/teenNews/view.bg?articleid=112014&format=text
By Tenley Woodman
Monday, November 14, 2005 - Updated: 01:27 PM EST
Some high school industrial arts classes make birdhouses. Brookline High School’s construction engineering class takes that project a whole lot further.
From 7:15 to 10:30 a.m. each school day, students build a two-level Cape-style house in a parking lot on campus.
In June, the house will be completed. It will be equipped with a full- and half-bath, electricity, heat, two bedrooms, dining room and kitchen.
“This is much better, and it’s hands on,” said Wilson Torres, a junior, about this class.
Torres and senior Paul Dubrow said building also helps them apply math, their favorite subject, to something tangible.
“It’s easier working with it in front of you,” said Dubrow, 17, while supervising other classmates on the site.
The project has been a year in the making. Last year’s class worked on getting the necessary permits and designing the house.
Peter Lee, who teaches the class, is a licensed construction supervisor.
In previous years his classes have renovated houses in Brookline and done odd jobs in the school.
“Parental pressure said, ‘We want the kids to learn construction,’ ” Lee said.
Dan Prager, a junior in Lee’s architecture class, used the computer program Auto Cad to draw the blueprints.
“Mr. Lee gave me the size and told me to figure out what goes inside,” said the 16-year-old. “The initial design took a week, then there was trial and error.”
Prager hopes to become an architect and attend Rhode Island School of Design or Cooper Union in Manhattan.
The unique experience gives Prager and aspiring construction workers such as Dubrow and Torres a chance to hone their craft.
“I wouldn’t expect to come into a high school class and build a house,” said Torres, 16.
They also experience the pros and cons of the workplace. The class numbers 15, but on average only 12 show up.
“If people were here every day, we could get it done faster,” Torres said. “It takes a lot of dedication.”
Lee said those who do show up come early and are eager to work.
“I liked it when we got our new tools. It was kind of like Christmas,” said sophomore Conor Barney, 15.
Lee is unsure of what will happen to the completed house. Options being discussed include its use in a Brookline park or selling it.
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/teenNews/view.bg?articleid=112014&format=text