Building Hope
STUDENTS CONSTRUCT SHEDS FOR FIRE-AFFECTED FAMILIES
JOINT RELEASE KCSD and KFCS for Healthy Klamath Living Well Joaquin Aguilar-Flores, Media Relations Specialist aguilar-floresj@kfalls.k12.or.us; 541-883-4702, ext. 7165 Marcia Schlottmann, Public Relations Specialist schlottmannm@kcsd.12.or.us; 541-851-8743
High school students in the Klamath Falls and Klamath County school districts are building sheds to help Sprague River families who lost their homes and possessions in September’s Copperfield Fire.
The 8-by-16-foot sheds are being built by construction students at Mazama, Lost River, Bonanza, Henley, and Eagle Ridge New Tech schools. Chiloquin students are building an 8-by-8-foot shed. Overall, nine sheds will be built by city and county students through Team Oregon Build.
Mazama students completed the first shed Oct. 25, and it was picked up and transported to the Sprague River area the following day to provide storage for a family impacted by the wildfire. They are on schedule to complete a second shed by midDecember. Henley and Eagle Ridge Tech students finished their first sheds last month. Eagle Ridge’s shed transported to Sprague River before the Thanksgiving break. Students there have already started on a second shed. Henley students have finished their first shed and are scheduled to finish a second shed before winter break. Lost River and Bonanza sheds are nearing completion.
Klamath Community College students also are participating in the program, building two insulated cottages with electricity and heating, for fire victims. The sheds will be used by property owners as storage. The cottages can be used as temporary housing.
The curriculum, blueprints, and materials provided by Team Oregon Build helped students learn and successfully complete the project.
“There aren’t many students who get to build sheds like this, especially sheds that are going to be used for such a good purpose,” said Michael Edwards, Mazama’s manufacturing and construction teacher. “Our next step is to keep building sheds and then hopefully partner with an agency to eventually build the mini-cottages.”
The cottages require students to learn about wiring and insulation, advancing their skillset beyond what the sheds offer.
The project was personal for Eagle Ridge New Tech junior Rose Purkhiser. “My aunt and her friends lost their home through the fire and I’m just glad this will be going to someone who lost their home in the fire,” she said.
The shed construction was her first building project, but Rose hopes to work in carpentry in the future.
Mazama senior Tyler Casey worked on the shed as a student in the school’s advanced construction/manufacturing 4 class. Dubbed the shingle master for his roofing skills, he plans to be a wildland firefighter for one year after graduation before joining the Air Force with the goal of being an aircraft mechanic.
“I’ll be fighting fire for a year so it’s pretty cool the shed is going to a family who lost their home in a fire,” he said.
Team Oregon Build started in September 2023, partnering with the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), the Oregon Housing Authority and Oregon Department of Education, to provide funding to high school CTE programs so students can build sheds and cottages as emergency housing. The program works with PIVOT Architecture in Eugene, which creates and provides the blueprints and plans for students to follow. Lowe’s Home Improvement is contracted to ship the materials needed to the schools.
Last year, the organization trained 160 CTE and construction teachers throughout Oregon, and students in the Klamath County School District began building smaller 8x8 foot sheds that could be donated to non-profit organizations or used for campus storage needs.
Brian Robin, Career and Technical Education (CTE) coordinator at the Southern Oregon Education Service District, has been building partnerships with non-profits needing the storage and emergency housing, working through permitting and other issues.
This fall, Robin was connected with a victim of the Copperfield Fire, and from there, word spread. A total of 11 structures – nine sheds and two cottages – will be built by local students and delivered to impacted families.
“These students are doing an amazing job,” Robin said. “You have some amazing educators passing their passion onto some really engaged students.”
