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LM October 2019
DIY: Hamilton County Students
Build Administrative Office
A reminder of what jumpstarted his path into the building
trades won’t be hard for Lane Campbell to find years from now.
The senior at Hamilton County CUSD #10 and 12 of his
classmates are helping build a new administrative office in the
district, located adjacent to the new junior/senior high school
right off Illinois Highway 142.
The students have been hard at work on the 4,800-sqaure foot
metal building since the beginning of the school year and, if all
goes well, hope to have it ready for Superintendent Jeff Fetcho
and his staff to move into as early as Jan. 1.
For Campbell, the project has meant waking up and going to
school has never been more fun.
By Jason Nevel
Director of Social Media and Publications
“I want to make this a career,” he said. “This class has given
me the experience I need.”
The idea to have students in the district’s most advanced
vocational class help build a new administrative office began
last year. Several factors made it possible.
Hamilton County voters, years ago, approved a countywide
one cent sales tax to fund school construction, providing the
revenue needed for the roughly $275,000 project.
The condition of the district’s current administrative office—
an old, two-story funeral home—made it so there was little
pushback from the community, who also appreciated the
district shaving thousands of dollars off the overall cost by
having students do much of the labor.
The driving factor, though, was the desire to give students in
Hamilton County a new hands-on learning experience and