For four months, students in the Ann Arbor Homebuilding Program have been racing to complete another fully livable home by the end of the school year. Students from Huron, Pioneer, Skyline, and Community high schools bus in every day to a development in Scio Township and get busy constructing the program’s 55th home.
Homebuilding offers an exciting change-up from the day-to-day boredom of regular classes. “I joined homebuilding because I never enjoyed learning in a classroom and I already had some experience in the trades,” says second year homebuilding student Grace Colone (‘25). “It was a way for me to be outside having fun with my friends instead of taking another three classes.”
Many students don’t feel like the traditional classroom setting is for them, and the Homebuilding Program offers a different way for students to learn, focusing on hands-on-learning and gaining experience through on-the-job training.
“Homebuilding has definitely helped with a varied and versatile skill set that will be beneficial in my future, everything from carpentry to working with people you don’t get along with, to how to write a resume and even tie a tie,” says Colone.
Homebuilding is able to sustain itself by taking the profits made from the last project and putting it right back into the program for the new class. “When you look at our Homebuilding Program, we need to look at it as a combination of two separate entities combining to achieve one goal,” says Homebuilding head coach Mark Valchine II. “Those entities are the AAPS school system and the Ann Arbor Student Building Industry Program (AASBIP). The funding from the school is the same as any other CTE [career and technical education] course….This funding covers the teachers, classroom trailer, tools, and bussing etc. The AASBIP has a board of directors who fund and make decisions for the upcoming builds. The program’s goal is to sell the home and use the profits to purchase sites for new builds.
Homebuilding has been a great resource for students in Washtenaw County for more than half a century, and it doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon. “The partnership has been successful for 55 years and is the perfect partnership between education and the industry,” says Valchine.
If you are a junior or senior interested in the Homebuilding program, then all you have to do is fill out their google form, linked on the a2schools website, and join a number of the board directors and Valchine for a meeting to discuss your eligibility and interest for the program. Your attendance plays a large role in the final decision, so make sure to get to all your classes on time.
