Northeast lottery program has a lot of winners
JUNIORS IN THE Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School’s carpentry program begin framing a house.
WAKEFIELD — Northeast Metro Tech carpentry students are building a house in Wakefield based on plans created by the vocational high school’s design and drafting students. The plumbing and electrical students will do their part later this year.
Students from the Wakefield school are gaining practical experience and the Montrose Avenue property owner — winner of the 2014 Metro Tech house building lottery — is saving thousands on labor costs.
“My job is not to build the house but to teach the students how to build it,” said Metro Tech carpentry instructor Armen Khodaverdian. “You see that wall” he added, motioning to what would soon be lifted into place as part of the second story’s rear exterior. “They built all that. I checked it. But they built it.”
Senior carpentry student Zack Reed of Revere said he was excited about the project. “I thought we would get to build a shed and now we’re building a house.” And it’s quite a house — two stories with a two-car garage.
Besides the excitement and pride that come with such a substantial project and the opportunity for instructors to work with students in the field, students are also reaping benefits in the classroom.
“After having been out on the site for a few weeks, the kids start to ask more intelligent questions in class,” Khodaverdian said. “They want to know why something was done in a certain way, not just what size nail do you use for this or that.”
In sum, Northeast Metro Tech’s construction project adds a quality home to the community, saves a local property owner money, allows teachers to connect with their students in a real-life context and helps create better craftsmen. Everybody wins.
To literally win the 2015 house building lottery you must own a buildable lot in one of the Metro Tech communities of Chelsea, Malden, Melrose, North Reading, Reading, Revere, Saugus, Stoneham, Wakefield, Winchester, Winthrop or Woburn.
Anyone who qualifies and is interested should contact Metro Tech Superintendent Theodore Nickole for more details at 781-246-0810 ext. 1600 or tnickole@northeast.tec.ma.us.
The school will begin to accept communications in December so don’t delay.
