LM Oct 2019

DIY: Hamilton County Students Build Administrative Office

“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

By Jason Nevel Director of Social Media and Publications

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.

10

LM October 2019