Sisters students frame home for family

Saws roared, hammers banged and clanged as country music blared from a pickup truck. Such a scene is familiar at any job site in Deschutes County - except that this one was played out in the lot behind the wood shop at Sisters High School.

The students in Tony Cosby's construction class are framing a 1,000-square-foot home which will be donated by Hayden Homes to a family in need. The donation will be made through the Hayden Giving Fund and the home will be sited at the developer's subdivision in Sisters.

Cosby originally approached the developer with the idea of a student-framed house some time ago, thinking there was a natural partnership with a housing development that lies on Barclay Drive on the route to the high school.

"A year ago I stopped at their office and I said, 'I think it would be a great community connection, because kids drive by it every day. It'd be great if we could build a house for you,'" Cosby recalled. "At first they said 'No way,' because they were worried about liability."

But then Hayden later approached Cosby with an opportunity. The Hayden Giving Fund provides housing to families in need throughout the area where the developer does business and the developer thought it would work to have students work on such a house for Sisters.

The arrangement allows for students to frame the house off the home site. Parr Lumber will truck the framed walls and windows to the home site where Hayden's contractors will put up and finish the structure.

Doing work that will have an actual, real-world application is a real motivator for the students in the construction class. Cosby works closely with them to work through problems and to make sure everything is done according to plan.

Volunteer Kerry Bott has also been instrumental in keeping the students on track with the project, according to Cosby. Bott adds some extra value; as a retired Intel employee, he brings to bear that company's community volunteer incentive. Intel is paying the Sisters High School program $10 for every hour Bott puts in.

Cosby points out Londel Lucas as one of the stars of the program. He's taken the construction class three times and he says he really likes the hands-on nature of the coursework.

"I've done things like this for an Eagle Scout project, so that helps," he said.

Joey Farruggio says the project has helped him "learn how basic school math works in the real world."

Nick Reuter said he likes the way the work makes school studies come alive. And, he noted, "it feels good helping people in need."

The students in the class are: Jason Aljets; Edward Bork; Marcus Cooper; Nicholas Cristiano; Grant Crossgrove; Michael Epps; Joseph Farruggia, Justin Jones; Lucas Londel; Tanner Petersen; Nicholas Reuter; and Chandler Zenich.

For more information on the Hayden Giving Fund, visit http://www.haydengivingfund.org.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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