STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

This past school year 47 Carey High School students built a 1,388-square-foot home from the ground up in a field of sunflowers behind Carey School.

Now, they’re offering it to the public in what they say is a bargain of a deal.

The Blaine County School District is soliciting sealed bids for the unfinished home until 3:30 p.m. Aug. 11. The winner will be able to move the home to a lot of their choice and hire their own electricians and plumbers to finish the HVAC, plumbing and electrical wiring that’s already been roughed in.

The home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen and laundry room. It’s fully framed with doors and windows in and a roof on top.

Those enrolled in the Jim Woodyard Residential Construction Academy at Carey could have finished this home next year. But the school is changing its focus to build 1,200 square-foot ADU, or accessory dwelling units, with two bedrooms and two baths.

“There’s a lot of interest in smaller homes for mother-in-law housing and workforce renters, said construction teacher John Parkinson. “Anyone with three acres and above are allowed to have an ADU.”

Parkinson said a bidder should be able to pick up the home up for bids for much less than what it would cost to build the conventional way. If the home doesn’t get a bid that covers the framing, drywall, insulation, fireplace, lighting, cabinets, countertops and other expenses, this coming school year’s high school and middle school students will continue to work on it.

“We had a lot of fun building this,” said Parkinson. “Every part of this house was done by the kids working 1 and a half hours a day between two classes.”

The kids spent the first week in the shop learning about OSHA safety rules and building tables as they learned to use lathes and other power tools. The second week they moved outside, building the floor on blocks under the Indian summer sun so it can be moved easily.

They hoisted walls, following that up in October with trusses and a gable. They put on the roof just before Christmas a snow blanketed the ground.

Students start off each class talking about how to do cabinetry or frame windows and doors. They then don their tool belts, hard, hats, safety glasses and insulated workers’ jackets with reflective coating  and move to their separate corners as Parkinson moves from one group to another.

When the weather turned cold in February, the students retreated to the shop where they built an 8-by-8-foot shed out of donated materials. Some students even spent time rebuilding a motor to learn mechanics.

”All the students are fully engaged and happy to be there,” said Sue Woodyard, who has continued to advocate for the program since her husband’s death in a plane accident in 2003. “You never see kids standing around.”

Eighty percent of the students at Carey High School go through this program and there is a waiting list. The program will expand from two classes to three this school year, but Parkinson said he has enough interest to hold classes all day long.

“Eighty percent of our students have no interest in college,” he said. “Construction really exploded in the past 10 years so they know they can get a job making good money when they get out of high school or a construction program at Boise State University.”

Parkinson worked in construction in Sun Valley and Ketchum for 30 years. When Greg Carlson retired last year after teaching construction since 2002, Parkinson saw an opportunity to supplement his growing Big John’s BBQ catering business, which served 3,500 people at weddings, rodeos and other events this month.

“He absolutely loves teaching and he loves the kids,” said Woodyard. “He’s very good at bringing the best out in them and teaching them life skills they can use whether hanging a picture in their own home or working in construction.”

The Jim Woodyard Residential Construction Academy had its genesis with Jim Woodyard, a building contractor who designed the program to give students hands-on training in carpentry, framing, electrical wiring, HVAC, plumbing and other building trades.

The first year--in 2001—students built three sheds, with the money from the sale of those sheds buying materials for the next year’s program.

Students then built their first house on the campus of Carey High School, moving it to a lot in the Greenfield Estates subdivision at the edge of Carey when it was finished. One of the students who worked on that first house eventually bought it years later for his family.

Students in the Carey program have now built six homes—one of them a two-story house that gave them the chance to learn how to build stairs.

Students at Wood River High School have built three workforce homes in Hailey’s Woodside neighborhood on land the school district owned. Wood River High School students currently are building a home between the high school and Community Campus under the direction of Ian Blacker.

“We used to build them off campus but that involves loading up the kids on a bus. Building them on campus means the kids can just walk out of class and get to work, and other students can see what’s going on,” said Woodyard.

WANT TO BID?

Sealed bids will be accepted at the Blaine County School District office in person or by mail until 3:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11. The address:118 W. Bullion St., Hailey, ID 83333.