News
August 11, 2009
Building Builders: Housing market doesn't slow down Bullock Creek building trades program heading into its 37th year
Kurt Pudvay loves going to work each day. “There’s never a dull moment,” said Pudvay, 24, who is employed by Three Rivers Corp. and works as a welder at The Dow Chemical Co. “It’s very satisfying to design something yourself, fabricate it yourself and install it yourself,” he said. “It’s very gratifying.”
Pudvay learned his trade while in high school, taking one year of woodshop and three years of metal shop. He was hired immediately after graduating from Bullock Creek High School in 2004. "Three Rivers was eager to hire me," he said. "I was a hard worker. I came into it knowing you have to be a hard worker
“Bullock Creek prepared me quite a bit for it,” he said. The Bullock Creek Industrial Arts program provides classes in welding, wood/carpentry, computer-aided design, blueprint, introduction to trades and the capstone class — building trades.
“Easily half of our kids take one or more of these classes at some point in their high school career,” said Principal Charlie Schwedler. The high school has about 650 students.
Pudvay started out job shadowing a carpenter, but realized that wasn’t for him. He became more interested in welding, especially after welders came into his class and talked about the trade. “That’s what really got me interested in it,” he said. “You can drive by Dow and see miles and miles of pipe fitting,” he added. “I thought it would be cool to be part of that.”
The building trades class began in 1972. Steve Dowling was the original instructor. “I would say the houses that we built ... they’re as good as what the contractors do,” Dowling said. Teacher Gary Shaffner now leads 15 students each year through all stages of building a house — starting with a weeklong course on safety at the beginning of the school year. Then the students get to work. The houses are built on sites throughout the Bullock Creek area, and there are several on Stewart Road.
“The bottom line is they build the house from the bottom up,” Schwedler said. Some of the work — plumbing, heating, insulation, drywall and painting — is contracted out. The electricity work is overseen by Chris Church of Church Electric. Eric Kloha, 23, helped build houses during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years. He graduated in 2004 and is now employed by Three Rivers, working as a carpenter at MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland.
“It helped me get a jump start,” he said. “It helped me on my basic carpentry skills. It helped me with my basic skills.” The program serves as a good training ground, and many area employers are eager to hire people like Pudvay and Kloha, including Orvosh Builders. The company has hired eight graduates of the building trades program since 1998.
“They’re definitely qualified,” said Jason Orvosh. Orvosh is a designer and the owner of Orvosh Builders. “They have a broad knowledge of the whole (building process),” he said. “These kids have seen everything.” At Three Rivers, Bob Lofiego, manager of community relations, said the company has hired 16 program graduates in the past five years. “They’re well-trained when they come to us, and they’re willing to learn new things and improve their skills,” he said. Three Rivers sends all its apprentices for additional training with Associated Builders and Contractors.
Both Schwedler and Shaffner stressed the program’s importance in creating real employment opportunities for graduates. “We see the direct value of this program with direct employment to some very good jobs,” Schwedler said. “To me, it’s kind of the ultimate school-to-work program,” Shaffner said. The district sells the newly-built house in the spring and then uses the money to finance the class — materials and other building costs — during the next school year.
Schwedler remembered only one time the district wasn’t able to sell a house almost immediately — it sold in March of the following year. Shannon Killinger of Ayre Rhinehart Realtors has been selling Bullock Creek building trades houses — without taking a commission — for at least 27 years. “I graduated from Bullock Creek in 1968,” she said, explaining why she sells the houses for no charge. “I raised two sons and they both graduated from Bullock Creek,” she added. “My youngest son took the building trades class, and it was his favorite class. He’s now a licensed builder. I believe in the program and I believe in Bullock Creek schools.” Killinger said there were many years she would sell the house within a day or two after it was listed.
This year it didn’t sell right away, but it’s only been finished since June, she said. “I think Gary (Shaffner) does a great job, the kids do a great job,” she said. “They’re great houses. They show well. They’re priced well.” Killinger isn’t the only one sold on the program. Pudvay said he would do “everything exactly the same if I could go back.” “There’s sometimes a bad connotation about construction work. A lot of kids don’t realize its a skill,” he said. “Nobody can take that away from you.”
Source: Angela E. Lackey. "Building Builders: Housing market doesn't slow down Bullock Creek building trades program heading into its 37th year" Midland Daily News 11 Aug. 2009: A2.