Gainesville High School Students Build House for Fundraising

Students at Gainesville High School get hands-on experience with a fundraising project for the school’s building program.

The students are working together to build a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home that will be auctioned off later in the school year. The GHS building program teaches carpentry, masonry, plumbing and electrical engineering. Shane Millwood, one of two building teachers at GHS, said the project allows students to apply knowledge from the classroom to bring their vision to life.

“For carpentry, floor systems, wall systems and roof systems are part of our standards,” Millwood explained. “We’ve already gone through the floor system and wall system portion and we’re putting this OSB on here now so the kids can get started cutting the trusses and covering them and putting the roof trusses on.”

The materials for the project were largely donated by local businesses. Millwood’s carpentry classes began work on the project when Gainesville City Schools returned from summer break in August 2024. Once the home’s framing is complete, Brandon Miller, who teaches electrical engineering at GHS, will lead his students in wiring the building.

Miller explained that in the past, students on the building trail would work together to build one wall and run electrical components through it before tearing it down and starting over. Both teachers were inspired to make their lessons more interactive after seeing similar projects at a statewide professional development meeting over the summer.

“This is great because students are building a house,” Miller said. “They see every aspect that they can see with both carpentry and electrical when the carpentry is done, but it’s a great opportunity to (take) what they learn and turn it into ‘I built something, I accomplished something.’”

The GHS building program serves about 360 students each day, including senior Andre Blackwell, who shared how the path has opened his mind to different career options.

“I moved here from North Gwinnett, and then I got put into construction,” Blackwell said. “When I got there, I saw that construction wasn’t really what I thought it was. It was more than just building a house or something. You make connections, you meet a lot of new people. You get to go to a lot of field trips and events, and you just see other career paths (other than) just going to college.”

Miller’s son Cohen is a junior enrolled in the school’s program. Cohen said working with his father makes the class project even more special.

“It’s a fun project to work on for all of us because it’s not every day you get out of high school and say, you built a house in one of your classes,” he said. “And it’s good that my dad is here to work with me because if I have any questions, I can just ask him when I get home, or I can just ask him on my own time so it’s easier for me when I come in the next morning, and it helps our class even more.”

Millwood and Miller plan to have the project completed by December 2024 and sell the building before students leave for spring break in 2025. Teachers have not yet set a starting price for the project, but Millwood estimates it will be between $25,000 and $30,000 based on current market prices.