Photo by Matt de Simone
Submitted Photo
Submitted Photo
By Matt de Simone
Contributing writer
The Botetourt Technical Education Center’s (BTEC) Building Trades Department recently received the Lowe’s Hero Award— a project in which Lowe’s partners with the community to help educate students. Lowe’s wants schools to work safely and provides students with safe equipment to perform their assigned tasks.
BTEC’s Building Trades program prepares high school students to transition from the classroom to the professional world. Students in the program learn how to work with materials in different environments both indoors and outdoors. Carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical installation, and coordination involving residential construction are all taught within the program. For major projects, students put together a portfolio to present as a demo for future employers.
BTEC’s Building Trades instructor Phillip Simmons has taught the program for the past 26 years. He has played a part in Lowe’s partnership with BTEC over the years. In that time, his students have built nine modular homes ranging from 1,100-1,300 square feet in size, including a 1,600-square-foot fold-down house. These projects last two years, giving students at least one year of offsite experience.
“Lowe’s has done things for Moyer Fields in Salem, the Botetourt Athletic Complex, and we just happened to be the recipient of the award this year,” Simmons explained. “We could have done a multitude of things with the funds, but in knowing we’re about to go out on a site to start a house on Ridgley Lane, we chose to focus on that project.”
The name of the project is “Books 2 Bricks II,” which is the sequel to the highly successful “Books 2 Bricks,” which BTEC students completed from 2004-2006. Due to the success of BTEC’s Building Trades students, former Botetourt County Schools Superintendent John Busher worked with Simmons on “Books 2 Bricks II.” Simmons is hopeful there will be more “Books II Bricks” projects in the future.
These projects are offsite student-built homes that have electrical, plumbing, and HVAC contractors who come in and work with the students. The funds from the Lowe’s Hero Award will be used for battery tools and various lumber materials.
“We’ll go in and prep the footers, pour the footers, lay the block. Everything. And the neat thing is, the students can come back and look at this project, forever,” Simmons stated.
The students will also use Zip System, a water retardant sheathing that also has a built-in vapor barrier. Simmons explained that most builders apply sheathing and tape onto walls and roofs and then must install a vapor barrier. Zip System saves the student an extra step on this project. Members of the community familiar with the apartments around the Daleville Town Center have seen Zip System lining those fast-rising homes.
“Zip System is really advantageous for us,” Simmons said. “Lowe’s isn’t selling it in the local area and are donating it to (the Building Trades Department).” He explained that many contractors don’t want to spend the extra bucks on Zip System because they’re more comfortable with how they’ve always gone about it— installing the tape and sheathing and then going back and throwing up the vapor barrier.
Simmons grinned. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” he said.
Currently, Simmons’ students are crafting handmade wooden rocking chairs that Simmons thinks “would rival any local cabinet maker’s.” The shop also currently houses end tables built by Simmons’ first-year students. This project is basically the first chance a student can measure, cut, and drill something together based on training and written directions given by Simmons. From there, why not build a house? Speaking of which, the kids are also hard at work finishing a “Sno-Shack” that will be up and running in Botetourt County soon.
“People don’t realize what we are actually able to do here at BTEC,” Simmons said. “Even people who have been in Botetourt County for years don’t know what we can do. We can effectively build or make anything you can build or make in the real world.”
For more information about BTEC’s Building Trades program, visit: https://btec.bcps.k12.va.us/programs/building_trades