TEMPLE, Texas — Two years ago, Stephen Bishop was looking for project ideas for his construction technology students at Temple High School. He was inspired with the big idea to have those students build a tiny house.
Bishop got the ball rolling on the project by applying for and receiving an innovative teaching grant from the Temple Education Foundation in the fall of 2021. That grant helped purchase the trailer that would serve as the house’s foundation. Then the students jumped in, selecting the floor plan and printing the blueprints. The students began working to build small scale models of the house while Bishop worked to find a trailer. He finally found one in Idaho, but it took time to have it delivered to Texas. The project has also faced supply-chain issues like much of the rest of the country. But those delays did not deter the students or derail the project, they just provided a different type of learning experience.
“It took us a while to get windows and now we are waiting on roofing materials,” Bishop said. “So, we had to learn about some of those issues and our kids have also learned about management, because we have students leading other groups of students.”
“We have to learn about materials and costs and timelines that will also help with the skills we have learned,” said senior construction technology student Jose Lopez. “It has been a really great experience and I have gotten to learn the principles of framing and a lot of skills. That has really motivated me to want to go into my own home building business after high school.”
The tiny house’s floor plan includes approximately 200 square feet and more than 200 students have worked on the project over the last year and a half. Bishop is hopeful that the skills those students have learned during the project will help pay off as they move into the workforce and both he and the students are proud of what they have already accomplished with the tiny house.
“I really want them to learn three main things during this project. The trade and skills needed, the craftsmanship that is involved in something like this and perseverance because we have had to take a few things apart and redo them.” Bishop said.
“It has been a process to come together as a team even while we are learning the skills,” said senior Josh Donoso. “We all have different perspectives and different strengths and we all work together to help each other learn and improve. It has been such a great experience to watch this idea come together to the point where it is now and it is rewarding to have been a part of this project.”
“It is pretty awesome to see it go from just being a trailer to seeing it actually look like a house,” said Caleb Snider, a senior. “I’ve learned a lot about teamwork and technical skills, so I think those things are really going to help me later in life.”
“We have had to learn to work with other people toward a common goal and that has been very rewarding,” said Andreyes Williams, a senior in the class. “I never thought we would do something like this in class, but it has been a tremendous experience and has really motivated me to go to trade school for carpentry.”
The tiny house project has also given the students an opportunity to learn from and connect with professionals from around Central Texas. Volunteers have come in to teach the class about everything from plumbing, to siding, to spray foam insulation applications to roofing. Those volunteers have donated more than just their time, in several instances, they have also donated materials to assist in the construction and guarantee that students are working with professional grade products.
“We have been able to really experience so many different jobs in the construction trade all in one project, so you really learn a lot and I have really enjoyed it,” said senior Ethan Paulsen. “We have had to get together and figure out how to solve problems is going to be very helpful in the real world.”
“This has really brought us together to make sure we are all on the same page,” said junior Marcos Garcia. “We have had so many different learning experiences on this project that it really gives us a lot of options in the job market.”
“We are getting closer to the goal we set as a class and I never thought I would be a part of something like this, so that has been really cool.” Junior Jaqoun Butler said.
The construction technology classes are part of Temple High School’s Career and Technical Education Department and the tiny house project is another example of the department’s partnership with the Temple community to prepare students for the workforce. Once the house is complete, there are plans to either auction it off or sell it, and then Bishop will take the lessons learned from this experience to help prepare for the next tiny house challenge for his classes to face.
Companies and organizations who donated time, money or materials to the project include: Temple Education Foundation, Temple Area Builders Association, Kiella Builders, Lengefeld Lumber Company, Acme Brick, Mac Metals, Polywall, Incharge Electrical, Saverse Plumbing, Tri-Supply Windows, Gulfwest Solutions Spray Foam, Weatherization Partners, LTD, Elite Metals and Moore Air.
“There have been so many organizations and companies that have helped us and been so generous to us during this project,” Bishop said. “We have been very fortunate to have access to some of the materials we have had the opportunity to work with thanks to donations of time, money or products.”