Masonry Construction students volunteer building foundation for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
A group of Kirkwood Community College students left campus at 2:30 in the morning on Tuesday, October 4 to volunteer 85 miles away, laying a foundation for a family in need. Five Masonry Construction students and their instructor helped lay almost 4,000 concrete blocks, building a house to be featured on the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
“Moyle Masonry out of Manchester gave me a call to ask if we had students to volunteer,” said Kirkwood Masonry Construction Assistant Professor Joe Luchtenburg. “Because the build was so early in the morning, I didn’t make the project a course requirement, but was really happy to see some of the guys step up to volunteer. We worked alongside the professional laborers and bricklayers.”
Since Luchtenburg started at Kirkwood 11 years ago, masonry students have volunteered their skills to build projects for non-profit organizations like the Boys & Girls Club, Camp Waubeek, Metro Youth Football and the Welcome to Fairfax signs. This home was built for Aubrey Gibbs, a widow and single mother of six children. Gibbs was left legally blind after suffering a brain aneurism.
Luchtenburg said this project gave a different type of hands-on experience to his students.
“Never in my life had I seen anything like this. There were about 35 bricklayers and 45 laborers all volunteering together for this family. The second we got there, we got to work, cutting rebar, sawing blocks, setting the blocks … whatever needed to be done, we were there to work together and get it done.”
It took the group of volunteers about two and a half hours to lay the almost 4,000 concrete blocks needed for the footings for the garage and house.
“This was a great real-world experience for our students. We used real mortar instead of training mortar, and on this project, we don’t have the ability to start over on anything. Our students understand the repercussions of their work. They did a great job applying what they’ve learned in class.”
Kirkwood’s Masonry Construction program lasts nine months. Students learn about laying commercial and residential blocks, bricks and stone, as well as OSHA safety, math and blueprint reading. Luchtenburg said that background of knowledge, combined with the exposure the students got to some local companies, could help them in job placement after graduation.
“Representatives from the masonry companies that were there told me they would be very interested in hiring all five of the students that were on the job site,” said Luchtenburg. “We’re just happy that we could be a part of such a special project, while teaching our students in a setting they’re not used to, and opening up doors for them after graduation.”
No air date has been set for the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition episode.