Student Homebuilder Program in that high school students work alongside professionals to create a single-family home. But once completed, this home will be sold to a local nonprofit organization that then transfers ownership to a family transitioning out of homelessness. “It adds an extra level of meaning to the program,” Dey says. “These students know what it means to get involved with something that matters. They are addressing a real problem in the community.” The two-year-old program has already delivered one three- bedroom, 1,800-square-foot home and students are working on the second project. Approximately 25 students have been through the program, and between 75 and 100 are signed up for the 2024/2025 school year. With a population of 53,000 high school students, Dey sees room for more growth but wants to approach it with sustainability in mind. “I don’t want to bite off more than we can chew.” Part of that sustainability requires finding more industry partners, particularly one willing to take on the developer role. “Right now we’re the developer,” Dey says. He would prefer district teachers focus on skills they know best like “pedagogy, developing curricula and knowing how to work with adolescents. We can take care of the ‘school things.’” Dey suggests this partnership model to other school districts looking to start similar programs. “Oregon has a lot of small districts, and the standup costs to a program like Future Build are prohibitive,” he says. “Education service districts, workforce-development boards, and professional entities would love to come together and be in schools. You have to find the right fit.” These CTE construction programs prove that if schools build it, students will come. It’s a big change from shining the brightest light on four years of college as the best option after graduation. The perceptions about the construction industry, of course, have changed as well. “There used to be a lot of concern about the stability of construction jobs,” says Hack of Oregon Home Builders Association. “Now there is so much good, respectable, well-paying work out there. These are great jobs.” And industry culture has changed as well. Across the U.S., about 1.3 million women worked in the construction industry in 2022, embodying almost 11% of the total workforce. This represents a 53% increase over the last decade. Oregon’s numbers are higher, with 13.5% of the total workforce being women, according to Labor Finders. Murguia, the 2017 Viking House graduate, experienced the change firsthand. “I used to be the only women in a meeting or at the site. Now I’m not alone.” Pence, her longtime employer, has made hiring women a priority, noting on its website that its workforce is 20% women, nearly twice the industry average. “Pence always has my back,” she says. Of course, construction is not for everybody. But these programs let kids explore and maybe find their true passion. “I really enjoy this,” says Contreras. And to other students thinking about trying a CTE construction program, he says, “Try it. We need people. We build the world.” Forest Grove High School senior Jonathan Gaona Garcia works in the Viking House. “Oregon has a lot of small districts, and the standup costs to a program like Future Build are prohibitive. Education service districts, workforcedevelopment boards, and professional entities would love to come together and be in schools. You have to find the right fit.” DR. ANDY DEY, SUPERINTENDENT OF EUGENE SCHOOL DISTRICT 4J 39
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