The ribbon cutting ceremony had 75 to 80 people attend. Three school board members cut the ribbon and several Habitat For Humanity club members were also there. All of the upper-level carpentry classes attended because they will be the people who build the house and a third grade class came to watch the ribbon cutting.
The house will be built at 529 Tulip Tree Road, Hillsborough, North Carolina. When the house is built, it will go through the same inspections as a general contractor. The foundation is finished and has passed inspection. The classes have started to build the walls in the house.
There will be new additions to the house this year. The classes are thinking about putting in interior trim, crown molding and chair railing when they have most of the house finished.
Mat Hamlett will be teaching all the carpentry classes that build the house. Hamlett said, “I thought it went well.” His classes have built 14 houses and he has been working as a teacher for 30 years. When the classes build a new section of the house, he gives them words to remember when building.
Orange High School is well known for all of the community service that the construction crew at our school does. Every year, Mat Hamlett’s students build a house for a given community. They do most of the work themselves and work hard to create a finished house. They are currently completing the house by making and adding the front porch handrails. They will be holding an Open House May 28 at 9:00 am.
The Fairview community was claimed to be the biggest and best sponsor that the Habitat For Humanity builders had during this project. Currently, the house has professionals completing the plumbing, the window furnishings, and the staining.
Construction class at Orange is available for any grade and is a class to learn new skills. Also, since Habitat for Humanity is considered to be community service, it can go on a college application.The class teaches a student several important skills such as interaction skills, building skills, and social skills.
Aside from the house, the construction crew has also been working on a shelter that they will be building for the Fairview community garden. Hamlett is hoping that the shelter will be finished by the time OHS lets out for summer break June 7. They are building this shelter to show their gratitude for all the help that the community has had with the funding and support of the house. There are many students who agree that they hope it will be done before their summer break. Seeing as this isn’t the easiest task, they will need all hands available to complete the shelter by the end of the school year
Tuesday, February 19, the Habitat House was almost done in what seems to be a great spot for the house. If the family has a son or daughter, they can go to the daycare across the street, and the parents don’t have to go that far so can walk across the street to drop their kids off.
The house has a nice back yard for the kids to play, and it has a huge back porch and a little storage unit so they can put their shovels and rakes in it.
The house looks great so far. The Construction classes have to finish the exterior of the house before they can finish up by moving onto the interior. Mr. Mat Hamlett, the construction teacher, states that they home to have the house completed by the end of April.
The Construction II and III classes, led by Mr. Hamlet, are working very diligently on the Habitat House as the fall semester comes to a close.
The outside of the house is nearly completed and now the focus is on the inside of the house. “We have put on the roof, doors, and windows,” said Chance Durham, junior. One can see the outline of rooms forming and insulation is being prepared to put in. Mr. Hamlet explains how to seal rooms and insulate them correctly to the class as soon as they arrive on the site. Then the class quickly gets to work doing different jobs.
Seniors JT Harris and CJ Thorpe are working on a sliding door for the closet called a “pocket door.” This door slides behind the wall so it doesn't take up space by swinging out into the room. The house is very strategically designed to maximize the amount of open space.
The house is also economically friendly. Habitat for Humanity funds and supplies the house and they use recycled insulation. While good for the environment it tends to be dustier than the usual pink and yellow insulation so Mr. Hamlet tries to work with that
himself. “I don’t want anyone getting respiratory problems in the future,” he said.
Students are everywhere within the house working on their project making sure everything is done properly and efficiently. They are climbing ladders, sitting on high beams, and down low on the floor. “This is clown college. I’m the head clown,” said Mr. Hamlet.
Halloween nor the partially submerged floor from Hurricane Sandy's clouds was enough to deter these students from getting outside and getting to work. They used teamwork, wooden beams, and big hammers to align the trusses (roof supports) spanning the depth of the house and to nail them in place.
If they continue this progress Mat Hamlett, the Construction teacher in charge, says they should finish by May.