Missouri students build tiny homes as training

LEBANON, Mo. -- Students in Lebanon are picking up drills and hammers and learning big life lessons by constructing a tiny house.

This class of juniors and seniors at the Lebanon Technology and Career Center are constructing two 12 by 32 homes. In the past, students in this class have built regularly sized homes, but it took about three years to complete.

Not only are tiny homes very popular right now, but they are just the right size to give the students the experience of building something from start to finish.

"Pride of ownership and pride of hands-on and doing it themselves," said Dave DeNooy, a Building Trades instructor. "They've done everything, I kind of oversee things, but they're the ones building it."

There's a morning class and an afternoon class, and building the two houses side by side has turned into a bit of a competition. Both classes designed their tiny house, so the two homes are different, even though they're the same dimensions. The students have been working on them since the beginning of the school year.

The students are interested in a variety of options after school, but to them, the hands-on experience is the most valuable part.

"We learn by doing it and if we do it wrong, then we do it again," said senior Raymond Lorenz. "And it teaches you better that way."

"If we don't know, then we can always ask, and if we do it wrong, he'll show us how to fix it and do it right," said senior Kaleb Doublin.

Each nail and wire the students handle is laying the groundwork for a successful career in a growing trade.

"Trade jobs are on the increase, there's so many jobs out there and it's so hard to find a qualified young man," DeNooy said. "And if these students can grasp hold of something and take ownership of it, develop their skill, their future's unlimited."

KYTV-TV reports that The Lebanon Technology and Career Center's goal is to prepare students as much as possible for a career after school.

"That's really what our focus is, for them to get into a pathway, build that career, whether it's going straight into the workforce or whether it's furthering their education at the post-secondary level," said Keith Davis, director of Lebanon Technology and Career Center.

Some students at LTCC are already using their skills.

"A few of my friends who were in this class to begin with this year, are now doing internship and they have good jobs already," Lorenz said.

However, even if they don't go into construction, the skills the students learn in this class will always be practical for their own homes. Additionally, the houses they build will always be the product of their hard work.

"I know, even 10 years from now, if they know where it goes, they'll drive by every time and say -- we built that house," DeNooy said. "And that's something they'll never forget."

After the homes are complete, the class plans on finding buyers to use them for cabins or vacation homes.