Episode Details

Ryan Clayton:
My goal for the program is that it's all student run from management to building and I'm just here as an advisor.

Anthony Godfrey:
Talk about meaningful learning. It's a big deal. It's an outcome that helps improve people's lives.

Ryan Clayton:
It's an amazing opportunity to put on your resume. You are actually taking somebody out of homelessness by building this house for them.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. These students are nailing it in a unique class designed to prepare them to be career ready in the construction trades industry.

On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to JATC South where it is all hands on deck as high school juniors and seniors build a tiny home on site as part of a new construction trades class.

We're here at JATC South outside watching a new class and talking with a new instructor. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about this class.

Ryan Clayton:
Yeah, so I'm Ryan Clayton. I'm coming from industry. I own my own construction business. And what this program is is basically taking what you would see in industry and bringing it into our high school. So we are a construction crew here and currently we're building a house for a homeless community in Salt Lake City. It's all completely built by high schoolers. I mean I pitch in here and there to help with something, but 95% of the work is done by our students. All the way from the foundation, they put our center blocks down to raise it up and put our floor in, framing it. At some point we'll get to the point where they're going to do the siding on it, they'll do the flooring, the walls, everything.

Anthony Godfrey:
So this is construction management, so they're not only learning the actual construction, but they're also learning how to oversee a project and make it all fit together.

Ryan Clayton:
Correct, yeah. So this year we've kind of combined a trades class and a management class. Next year we'll do a trades class that will focus more on the trades, learning the trades. And we're doing a separate management class that will be managing those trades classes. So they're going to get that managing experience. So what you would see is what a superintendent would do or what a foreman would do or a project manager. So my goal for the program is that it’s all student run from management to building and I'm just here as an advisor.

Anthony Godfrey:
And this really gets on two needs in the industry, and you know better than anyone. I've heard that the need is not just for those who have the skills and the trades, but those who can lead and manage projects, as well, who also have those skills and the knowledge of construction.

Ryan Clayton:
Yeah, so for sure one of the biggest deficits we have in construction is management positions, and especially managers who know the skills. Because you can have someone with an MBA come in, a business major has all this business experience, but has no construction experience, and it's really hard for them to manage. So what we need is individuals who have that construction knowledge but can also manage a team. So this strikes a good balance between that and prepping those students for it.

Anthony Godfrey:
I know that not only is there an industry need, but there's also been a high interest from students in being able to participate in a pro