Racine Sun

Michael McAllister loves the way he and other Case High School students have been allowed to take matters in their own hands as part of the Habitat for Humanity project they are now working on.

“When we first started this project, we thought we were wasting lumber,” McAllister told SpectrumNews1.com.

But about a week into the project and after learning the walls they were constructing were for a real home, the Case High junior remembers that way of thinking changing into something along the lines of “let’s get this done the right way.”

McAllister remembers he and his classmate being given blueprints and being told to start building.

“We had to figure out where everything was going to be at, which was kind of hard for kids who haven’t done this before,” he added. “That was also a learning experience for them because they were getting taught by people that knew how to do this stuff, people who’ve done this their whole lives, and figuring everything out along the way.”

While building homes is nothing new for Habitat for Humanity, the job has quickly grown on McAllister, with Habitat Executive Director Grant Buenger adding the idea to involve students at such a level came as an added step.

“We’ve been talking to the academies for a while about what it would look like to collaborate on a project, to give construction pathway students a real world example and opportunity that applies to their curriculum, but also helps serve our community and increase our capacity at Racine habitat to serve more families,” said Buenger, adding that students from nearby Park and Horlick High Schools were also involved in the project.

Buenger said he’s been amazed by the students’ work.

“I think they’re ahead of the curve. To be 17, 18-years-old, to understand how to read a blueprint, what it is, to assemble the interior walls of a residential construction project to spec [sic], at their age is incredible experience and skill set that hopefully benefits them as they move forward and graduate,” Buenger said.

With the new homes slated to be ready for the market in the spring of 2023, McAllister said it’s all part of the students learning to take greater pride in the things they are a part of.

“If this house breaks down, all of our names are on it, but if it lasts 1,000 years, all of our names are on it,” he said. “We’re leaving something behind that we learned in school, we learned when we didn’t think we could do stuff like this and it’s just really crazy to realize that we’re doing stuff that’s going to be a real-life house and not just a project in school or something we’re being graded for.”