Home-building
class returns

About a dozen small homes around town stand as testimony to the Haines Borough School District’s “trades and industry” class, an advanced construction course offered in the 1970s and 1980s.

Interest from parents and school board members is bringing the class back next year. Ed Hays, a retired teacher who last taught the class, has been hired part-time to help out.

Two decades ago, the district employed two shop teachers for classes like trades and industry, auto shop, wood shop and small engine repair. Dave Knight, who inherited the program when staffing was cut in half, is enthused about resurrecting home building.

Students taking the class will be more versatile, with a wider array of skills and job options than they can learn in wood shop, Knight said.

“There are many people in Haines who went through the program and went on to build their own house, or to work in the building trades. The district is trying to offer courses that are most useful to students, that apply to their daily lives.”

 Building a home on the school grounds is a tangible project that brings pride to young builders and to the community, he said. “Community members, even if they don’t see the kids working, they drive by and see the windows in or the roof on. It’s fun to see the progress.”

Fisherman Steve Fossman, who took “T &I” and graduated from Haines High School 29 years ago, went on to build four houses, including for his own family and his daughter’s.

 “I learned a lot, and a lot of what I learned I still use today,” Fossman said this week. “We didn’t pour foundation, but we did everything else, from the ground up – framing, siding, roofing, electrical, plumbing, cabinets, counters, hanging doors.”

The program provides skills and a foot in the door of the construction industry, Fossman said. “It’s good to get kids interested in the field. Even if they just hire on as a laborer, they’re going to know their way around the work site.”

T & I houses were built on stringers at the school and sold by silent auction at the end of the school year. The largest measured about 24 by 28 feet, Hays said. “I remember some good experiences coming out of building those houses, and the houses have held up really well.”