Centralia High School Building Trades Class Seeks Next Project

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The building trades class at Centralia High School is looking for its next project.

Last year, the students built a house. This year, they finished the siding, built a carport, and they will finish the workshop and two storage sheds before the year is over.

Mitchell Smith, who teaches the class, said the ideal project is building a small house. The students at Centralia High School have built 18 houses over the past 20 years. Ideally, Smith wants a project that already has some sort of concrete foundation. The next-best option is a floor system without a foundation.

“We try to work with who we think is going to be the best project for us at the end of the day,” Smith said.

The person who proposes the project would pay for the materials and a donation for the students’ tools, but the students provide the labor in exchange for learning on the job.

“The positive is they (the person who proposes the project) are going to save some money, but the drawback is that if we build a house it’s probably going to take us nine months to build a house versus four or five for a regular contractor,” Smith said. “So we have to have somebody that’s willing to work with us on that timeline.”



Most students who take the class intend to go into some type of building trade.

“It’s been fun,” said Inchantra Armitage, a junior in the class. “It makes school go by really fast. I don’t like sitting in the classroom for a long time, so this actually helps out a lot — being able to move and get out of school instead of sitting there all day.”

Jake Keehr, who is graduating this year, plans to join the Washington State Patrol. He will use the skills from this class to help his father at work on the side.

“There have been a lot of kids who didn’t even know how to use a hammer,” Keehr said. “But once you get the hang of it, it comes easily and just kind of comes to you naturally.”

To propose a project for the students for fall 2018, email msmith@centralia.wednet.edu or leave him a message at the school at 360-330-7605 ext. 6168.