The Coffeyville Golden Tornado Silver Eagles Building Team
The Silver Eagles are a class of students involved in the construction of new building and remodeling of pre-existing structures.
The students learn a variety of building techniques for the local area and other locations and climates. They are instructed in the use of various hand tools and power tools from the usual saws, drills, hammers to the very specialized tools that are used in modern day construction. They are made aware of all the various aspects of the building trades such as dealing with customers, building codes, building permits, insurance ( both of private structures and structures belonging to them personally), personal and business liability insurance, and insurance for projects in progress. Students are also made aware of style and design, many of which there are examples in this area.
The building trades organizations from the surrounding area, of which there are nine in the local 607; conduct a building contest at the end of the year called, “Shack Attack”. This is a contest where 5 students and one alternate are selected from each building trades organization and meet usually in Independence, Kansas. Each team has two days to construct a 10’x16’ storage building from scratch. The teams are judged on Quality, workmanship, cooperation, length of time of construction, and above all safety. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies are awarded and there is usually a cash prize awarded in the form of a Wal-Mart card. The competition is extremely fierce and after the judging of the winning teams, graded on total points, scores are usually very close. The team that wins this competition could be truly considered the best in the country and “Cracker Jack”. In the past, some teams involved in the competition have been comprised of all regular education students, and none of them ever placed. This says a lot about our student body.
The building trades organization and classes are open to both regular education and special education students. The special education student does have priority; however, with two teachers and two vehicles we are able to accommodate ten students per class so we encourage all students to participate.
It has always been amazing to us that more students don’t take at least one building class during their high school tenure. The reasons they should are very wide and varied. Homes and products manufactured for the home are the largest employer in the world. All one has to do is to imagine all the factories and workers that manufacture building materials, floor coverings, furniture, paint, art, appliances, electronics, hobby materials, bedding, and even collections of everything from sculptures to a coin collection. If you don’t think so just ask yourself: HAVE YOU EVER SEEN AN INDOOR/OUTDOOR STEREO OR COMPUTER? Probably not.
Building is extremely important not only to all of us but to our economy. The evidence for this became abundantly clear very recently. As early as August of 2007 it was reported that new home starts and the sale of existing homes were dropping off. When Wall Street got wind of this the daily trading average dropped over 1,000 points in seven trading days. This was the largest drop of the composite in the history of the New York Stock Exchange all because of housing and finance.
If all this isn’t enough for you to encourage a student to take a building trades class then try these: A home is the largest investment that most people will make. It would be good for them to know something about the investment they are going to make. Also if a student never intends to work in the building trades, just one class in the building trades will, if nothing else, make him or her a more informed home buyer.
On To Other Things
Every year the area building trades organizations build floats for the annual Neewollah Parade. The Silver Eagles did such a fine job last year they were chosen to build a float representing all the building trades organizations in our area. We have many creative people in our organization. We wonder what it will look like this year?
Building trades instructors are Mr. Jim O’Shields and Mrs. Kim Potter. Mr. O’Shields can be contacted by email at: oshieldsj@cvilleschools.com
Mr. O’Shields owns his own contracting business, dba Beautiful Homes Builders (a registered trade mark), and has hired students for summer employment who have participated in his classes.
Mrs. Potter is a professional assistant and is presently receiving the necessary training to become a certified building trades instructor. She conducts classes on her own, gives individual instruction, takes attendance, and assigns weekly grades using her unique ability to read and evaluate students.
WE ARE GOING TO TRY THIS YEAR TO BUILD OUR TRAIN DISPLAY FOR THE 2007 CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION. WHEN THE ANNOUNCEMENT IS MADE, FEEL FREE TO COME OVER AND HAVE COOKIES AND PUNCH, COFFEE FOR THE TEACHERS, AND START THE HOLIDAY SEASON WITH US.
Every year the area building trades organizations build floats for the annual Neewollah Parade. The Silver Eagles did such a fine job last year they were chosen to build a float representing all the building trades organizations in our area. We have many creative people in our organization. We wonder what it will look like this year?
CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES OF THE STUDENTS SETTING UP THE 2006 TRAIN DISPLAY.