The Building Construction class at LHS has a history of building one fully functional house per year for an applicant.  The class was started 10 years ago by Mr. Bob Peters who wanted to provide students the opportunity to get real life experience related to residential building.  The class started with the students building a spec. home and was then changed to building a home for an individual home owner.  Anyone can apply to have their house built by the students.  The application process usually starts in November or December.  A committee will then choose a home that best fits a criteria to make the Building Construction Class a positive experience for the students.  The floor plan is also chosen by the applicant.  A house has already been lined up for construction for the 2008-2009 school year and the application process will begin again for the 2009-2010 school year in the fall of 2008.
     Any junior or senior interested in the construction can apply to be part of the class. After the applications are received, an interview process selects the students most qualified and interested in the class.  The 2007-2008 house project had 19 students involved.  The students who get the class then work 2 hours every school day and a few full days outside of school to complete the project. The students then do all the construction related to building the home except the electrical and heating which is done by MGE Company, the drywall by Ruesch Drywall, the plumbing by Eron and Gee and Hermann's Plumbing and Heating, and the carpeting which is done by Carpet City.  The kitchen for the 2007-2008 house came from Golden Eagle Log Homes and the building materials came from Metcalf Lumber. 
     The 2007-2008 house is an 1800 sq. foot ranch home that contains 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and a partial finished basement.  The house also contains an interesting feature called a "tray ceiling" (Click here for Picture). The house is located in the town of Grand Rapids.  The pictures below show the 2007-2008 Building Construction Class house project.
To view a larger picture, click on a thumbnail below.