Technical Careers High School gets donation for tiny home project

AMMON, Idaho (KIFI)- Students at Technical Careers High School in Bonneville Joint School District 93 are closer to building a big project, thanks to a donation.

The Idaho Contractor License Review Board and the city of Idaho Falls donated $4,000 Wednesday morning, for materials for students to build a tiny home.

Principal Lyndon Oswald said the money came at a good time and is very much appreciated.

"We've had this on the back burner for a couple of years... and there are a lot of hoops we had to jump through; safety factors," Oswald explained. "The kids have got to research all the materials and the engineering. We have a pre-engineering program that's going to help us with CAD drawings and draw up the plans, but we couldn't do it without generous people in the community."

Oswald said the project will help students get more familiar with the trade, and prepare them for a career in construction if they choose.

"We want our businesses in town to know that we're training very capable young people that can start at the beginning trade and learn their craft with their corporate business," Oswald said. "So that's what we're all about, really is getting experience, workplace readiness."

Reginald Fuller, a board member for the Professional Building Contractors Licensing Registration Board says the project will give the students valuable work experience.

"The tiny home project is going to really give students a real hands-on experience in terms of constructing an actual physical home physical building," Fuller said. "It helps them to understand not just the physical construction part of it, but also the engineering aspects that go along with that. So it just has a lot of benefits for students and gives them a number of different paths in terms of the career they might choose in the future."

The plan, Oswald explained, is to build the house for the Parade of Homes in September, and then take it around to the elementary and middle schools in the district, to promote the high school.