Geraldine High School students are picking up the tools and skills to build a three-bedroom home.
The project is being led by Kyle Proffit, who was a music teacher in a previous life.
He left his position as head of music at a Nelson school about seven years ago and moved to Mid Canterbury, where he retrained as a builder.
While he had enjoyed teaching, Mr Proffit said having a young family had helped him to make the decision to move to Ashburton, where he had built his own home.
He said while some people had laughed that a music teacher was now working with students to build a house, both subjects used the same principles: muscle memory, applied knowledge, and the system followed.
‘‘They can see everything in front of their eyes.’’
While Geraldine High School was not the first school in the South Island to boast a building academy, it was at present the only one.
Principal Marcus Cooper said he had talked to a couple one night about his idea of having a building academy at the school.
He said they were dairy farmers from Pleasant Point and were in need of on-farm accommodation, so put their hands up to buy the first build.
With a buyer waiting and students ready to build, all he needed for the dream come true was to find a teacher who was also a qualified builder.
The school placed an ad in the education gazette, which Mr Proffit’s wife saw.
He mulled over the idea for months, feeling torn between leaving a good job or returning to his calling teaching young people.
When he finally accepted their offer the academy was able to begin.
‘‘He’s our unicorn,’’ Mr Cooper said.
Students are involved in every aspect of the house build — from groundwork and framing to insulation, cladding, and finishing.
However, the building academy was not only teaching students to build, but was strengthening their maths skills; some of the students at the academy had found their maths had improved out-of-sight.
Mr Proffit said the learning was more hands-on, and while the students still did book work it all made sense because they had completed the work themselves.
‘‘Like finding the centre of those two joists.’’
Mr Cooper said some students who might be disengaged in traditional classrooms were excelling in this environment, and for younger students struggling in the classroom ‘‘they can see a pathway’’.
He said while schools in the North Island were partnering with Kāinga Ora (a Crown entity which provided rental housing to those in need) ‘‘we see our market a bit differently’’.
That market was providing top quality houses for farming accommodation.
While the academy provided ‘‘way less labour costs’’, that did not mean it was not a good-quality product.
The build used top-quality products, and when a building inspector had shown up to check over work they had claimed the students’ work was ‘‘as good, if not better . . .’’ than other builders, he said.
The academy welcomed new inquiries for future builds; to inquire phone (03) 693-0017 or email office@geraldinehs. school.nz
The academy was thankful for the support they had been given from Mitre 10 MEGA Timaru, Makita New Zealand (who had supplied tools at an ‘‘affordable’’ price), local tradespeople who had generously given their time to mentor and guide students and Dave Johns of Solutioneering, who provided project management support.
The Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs had also backed the programme with funding and strategic support, and some school parents had contributed their skills and time.
