All News
Students Return to Construction Site for Annual Partnership
JANUARY 5, 2012 -- A partnership with Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio (HFHSA) and North East Independent School District’s Electrical Systems Technology Magnet Apprenticeship Program will continue today as a group of students volunteer in Coleman Ridge, HFHSA’s newest community which began in August of last year.
The students will do electrical work in three homes and in addition, will stand walls for two more.
“We’ve added another class this year … the Architectural Drafting Class,” said Stephen Albert, who directs the program, explaining the students draw and look at house plans in the classroom, but “they don’t have a clue how to put up a wall. Now they can get the concept down in their head.”
The electrical trades’ students have partnered with HFHSA for several years and look forward to the experience that helps them gain knowledge.
“We’ve worked with this group for several years,” said Bill Krupa, Vice President of Construction and Site Activities for HFHSA. “These students come in and get hands-on training and ‘real-life’ experience, but they are also helping us on the construction of houses that will eventually be the homes of some very hardworking families in need. This really is a winning situation for all of us and we have come to look forward to working with them.”
Based at San Antonio’s MacArthur High School, the mission of the program is to provide students with the academic, theory, and interpersonal skills needed to achieve excellence in their careers and to serve as the foundation for their continuing education, said Albert.
Approximately 70 students will be on HFHSA’s construction site working on training hours that will eventually help them gain professional certifications.
“The apprenticeship part is very important because we are apprenticed through the Department of Labor,” he explained.
Students from throughout NEISD participate in the program. While working on HFHSA’s construction site, they work with a master electrician who guides them through real-life application of what they have learned.
“This is hands-on, not just learning the principles in the classroom...now we have made what they are learning applicable,” Albert said.
Directions: Old Pearsall Road and Loop 410; from downtown San Antonio, take 35 South (toward Laredo) to 410 North; take Exit #2 (Old Pearsall Road); turn Left and go under bridge; take the first right onto Excellence Drive; follow the parking signs.
About Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio: Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio is an ecumenical, Christian organization working with families in need to build simple, decent and affordable homes without interest or profit. Habitat families are required to put in a minimum of 300 hours of “sweat equity,” meaning they help build their own home, the homes of their neighbors and they attend home ownership education classes. In turn, they purchase their homes on a 0% interest, 20-year mortgage. Their payments average about $400 a month, or about half the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the city. HFHSA plans to build 58 homes in 2012. HFHSA was founded in 1976 as the first U.S. affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International. The organization has built 737 homes since 1976.