Golden Apple: Bemidji Students Build House from the Ground Up Over School Year

Most people may not build an entire house in their lifetime, but Bemidji High School wants to make sure that their students get that chance as early as freshman year.

The BHS construction program held an open house on Tuesday, where students showed off the work that they have put in over the last year.

“We basically started with a slab of concrete, and NTC [Northwest Technical College] came in and did all of the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical, and then the high school did everything else,” explained BHS sophomore Kendra Johnson.

After an entire school year’s worth of work, the final result is a four-bedroom, two-bath house that’s over 1,800 square feet in size.

“What we see at the end of the house is the quality, the care, the craftsmanship that the kids actually take pride in doing,” said BHS construction trades teacher Tony Hommes.

BHS students have been building homes since 1994 in partnership with the Headwaters Housing Development Corporation. Over the years, they have built over 100 houses for the Bemidji community.

“The kids come here with their grandparents, their parents, or aunts and uncles and show them, ‘This is what I worked on all year. This is what I built,'” said Hommes. “That’s why we do what we do. This is what it’s about, for being able to see those kids come here and show off their work and take the pride, and they like to do that.”

Doing these types of projects encourages the development of hands-on skills that can last a lifetime, even if everyone looks at them a little differently.

“Even if you aren’t going into the trades, it’s nice to know how to do some of this stuff in case the projects come up around the house, then you’re able to do it and save some money,” said BHS senior Markus Midgarden.

“Just some basic tools that even if I don’t plan to build a house one day, I’ll know how to level my pictures on the wall,” said Johnson with a laugh.

And despite this not looking quite “traditional,” it’s still a learning experience.

“[It’s] working with their hands,” Hommes emphasized. “Being able to say that ‘I built this,’ I think is really important, and it’s a skill that they’re going to take with them when they own a house someday, when they go to buy a house. They’ll be able to look at things differently.”

“I think that this class has been the one class that I’ve actually really learned things in,” Johnson added. “Having that hands-on experience really helps me. That’s the way I learn. And then I also think that when you do that hands-on learning, you also remember those skills better. And I would have never learned how to do half of this without the help of Hommes.”

Every year after construction is finished, each house is put up for sale. This year’s house is already on the market as a fully-functional home.