Because the Frederick County Profession and Specialization Center offers resume individual lessons, students are also getting back to work on their housing construction, which has happened every year since 1978.
The students had set the house on fire last September. Homes usually take two years to build – the first year is focused on building the house and the second is focused on the inside.
However, students had to stop work in March when schools were closed due to the pandemic. The house is no longer on time and may take another year to complete.
However, finishing the house is not the objective, said Jim Thuman, home coordinator and carpentry teacher.
“The purpose of the mission is to provide them with real-world expertise and not build small things within the store that don’t really have a goal,” he said.
On Saturday the students bought the house ready for the truss and fabricated the second story. 4 students are allowed to work on the web site at a time. Along with their personal protective equipment like goggles and hardhats, they are now also required to wear masks and maintain distance from each other.
Ryan LaRocca, a junior and second-year carpentry student, said it was nice to be back on the development website after six months.
“It’s great that we’re able to come back and have the ability to do that, even though it’s not as much as we used to be, we’re still grateful for,” he said.
The students of CTC College are allowed to enter the college for practical study on some day of every other week. Thuman teaches on Tuesdays and Fridays, dividing his class in half. The following week, Carpentry I instructor Michel Delashmut teaches on Mondays and Thursdays, after which the cycle begins again the following Tuesday. The concept is that there will be at least 72 hours of time between each group of students using the same school rooms and equipment.
LaRocca said that he particularly appreciates the opportunity to teach specifically on the subject of the Home Mission, as many students at CTC enjoy studying.
“Some of us are doing it with our fingers and dealing with it, actually doing something outside of the classroom,” LaRocca said. “So that’s what really makes me happy. Teaching one more thing is a good option.”
The thirty-third house that CTC has built will be given on completion. The proceeds from the house go into buying and supplying for the next year’s house. 12 Fulton Ave. in Walkersville. The 2-storey house in the U.S. can have 1,777 square feet of area, three bedrooms and two and a half bogs. There is also an unfinished basement and storage for two cars at the rear of the house.
Thuman said that there is always a shortage of staff in building construction and students can go on to look for full-time jobs after graduation. While he knows he can educate them through online lectures, he says the only way he can really be taught is to do it himself.
“That’s what I inform the scholars. The purpose of this whole mission is to help you make mistakes, because that’s exactly what you’ll be taught in this work,” Thuman said.
