St. Albert high school students learning ins and outs of building a house while earning credit

St. Albert high school students and professional tradespeople take part in the Building Futures program by building a home from scratch on Oct. 15, 2024. (Darcy Seaton/CTV News Edmonton)

A group of high school students in St. Albert is spending the school year building a house from the ground up while keeping up with their studies.

The Grade 10 students from Paul Kane High School and Bellerose Composite High School have signed on to the Building Futures program, a project immersing students in skilled-labour trades by building a home with the help of professionals and teachers.

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Half of the 24 students in the program spend their morning in the classroom while the other dozen help build the house. They switch roles at around 11 a.m.

The newly built garage at the construction site also serves as the classroom.

Ken Bishop, one of the teachers with Building Futures, told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday the students are "having a hard time grasping the fact that they're still in school."

"When you're teaching and the group is outside working, you can see it in their eyes that they want to be out there doing the same thing," Bishop said.

"Here, we get to see the kids enjoying it and see the pride in the fact that there was nothing there at the beginning of the day, and there's something there at the end of the day," he added.

Kevin Read of Encore Master Builder – a program partner – said there's "such a joy" to see young people excited by the trades.

"Our sub trades nowadays are getting older in age, and we don't see the enthusiasm, the vigor, as much," Read said. "They love their craft. They're great at what they do … seeing young people interested in it is truly the benefit that I see when I pull up."

As for the students, they are excited to be part of a unique program and working with professionals.

"There's a lot of people in my class who really want to go into the trades, but mostly it's an opportunity to get to just try different things," said Noah Buckley, a Grade 10 student from Bellerose.

"I just wanted to try something that's unexpected … just getting the chance to try new things and try to be in a program where there's careers involved, where I could actually take this and make a whole life out of it."

Building Futures lasts the entire school year. Students will earn high school credit for their participation in the program.