Students Build House Despite COVID-19 Challenges
For nearly 20 years, public high school students have built houses behind their school in Cheektowaga. The Building Trades students at Erie 1 BOCES’ Harkness Career & Technical Center traditionally hold an annual auction of the home to capstone their senior year, with proceeds funding next year’s senior class project. But COVID-19, with its remote schooling requirements, made being onsite to build a house together a logistical challenge.
Nevertheless, the students persevered, and on Sunday, May 16 at 7 p.m. an online auction will end with another student-built modular home sold.
Cash Realty & Auctions is presenting this 1,248 square-foot ranch, built by the high school seniors enrolled in Erie 1 BOCES’ building trades program. The site, www.cashauction.com, will begin accepting bids starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, May 5 until the last bid is cast at 7 p.m. on the 16th.
The house features two bedrooms plus a den with a 5-foot computer desk, Kraftmade cabinets, Andersen windows and doors, 30-year architectural shingles and a full set of stamped architectural prints.
Chris Burgio, a building trades instructor at Harkness for the past 20 years, is proud of all the hard work his students put in this year, despite the difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s rewarding to see the students grasp what I have taught them, especially with the added challenge this year of teaching a skill to one cohort one day, then turning around and re-teaching the same concept to another cohort another day due to the hybrid learning schedule,” Burgio said. “The class wasn’t able to be all together, but we worked on coordinating teams according to each student’s cohort to get the house finished on time.”
The structure currently stands in the school parking lot on a temporary foundation. The successful bidder will be required to make arrangements to move the building off school grounds.
“There were definitely challenges in terms of having to reset yourself every day and trying to get into a steady workflow, but we were dedicated to the project and we worked together to come up with a plan of attack. We even talked outside of school,” said Evan Solazzo, a high school senior from the Amherst Central School District.
Evan added he believes the challenges the class faced as a result of COVID-19 actually helped him improve his planning ability, a skill that is crucial in the trade.
All auction proceeds will allow Erie 1 BOCES to purchase building materials needed for future class projects. Zachery Zelaski, a senior at the Depew Union Free School District, stated he feels a sense of accomplishment in building the house.
“It’s been a great eye-opening experience for me, and it’s something I feel good about knowing it will be put to good use once it’s sold,” he said. “Not everyone gets to do something like this, especially when they’re in high school. It was definitely a fun challenge and we worked hard to stay on track and learn the trade.”
Both Evan and Zachery plan to enter the carpenters union when they graduate. Zachery noted he enrolled in the Erie 1 BOCES building trades program because he wanted to work with his hands. Evan said he hopes to make cabinetry as part of his job after high school.
You can learn more about the house and the auction by going online to www.cashauction.com.
About Erie 1 BOCES
As part of public education, Erie 1 BOCES offers a variety of career and technical programs during the normal school day to high school students in Erie County. High school students interested in learning more about how they can participate in various hands-on programs should visit www.e1b.org/cte or speak with their high school counselor.