By Rinna Waddhany

| Special to The Tribune

It’s a bleak, overcast December day with temperatures in the low 30s, but a group of Murray High students are spending time outside framing and building a house. Sporting tool belts, helmets and a certain outdoorsy ruggedness, they could almost pass for professionals.

This project is part of a class called construction technology, which is a concurrent enrollment course that offers up to 14 college credits.

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"It’s an excellent experience," said Quinn Drury, teacher and supervisor of the project. "Kids are given different talents; some kids are talented with their hands and mind. It really gives them the venue to show their talents."

The program, which is funded by the Murray School District, has been a part of the school’s tradition. In fact, Drury has been involved for 16 years, in which seven houses have been built in the Murray School District. Other school districts such as Granite and Canyons also have the same program, but each district only works on one house at a time during a two-year time span. Drury said that Murray High is unique because it is the only high school within its district, so the school gets to work by itself on the house.

The house that Murray High is currently working on is located at 735 Tripp Lane, just across from Riverview Junior High. The lot is next to another house that was finished by Murray High last June. The emerging rambler-style house will feature a three-car garage, three bedrooms and two baths.

Although students are assisted by experienced subcontractors who work on plumbing, electricity and mechanical features, Drury said high-schoolers do a lot of work by themselves.

"The students lay out the lot, frame, do flatwork, concrete, insulation, roofing, finished trim, painting, sheetrock, tile, hardwood floors," Drury said.

Drury said subcontractors are also instrumental in providing students with extra knowledge and training. He said the program is a stepping stone for the students career-wise.

"It prepares them to enter the construction field, especially construction management," Drury said. "A lot of them go on to become general contractors."

Among the 18 students enrolled in the class are Austin Clark, Jaren Hale, Kylee Haislip and Emery Hughes. The four seniors said they enjoy applying what they learn in the classroom to a real-life situation.

"It takes book information and turns it into hands-on skills," Hughes said.

Hale said one of the things that motivated him to sign up for the class was Drury’s reputation as a "great guy" and outstanding teacher. He said the situations that they face in working on the house can be pretty exciting and crazy.

"I was straddling the top of a wall to sheet it," Hale said of one of his memorable experiences.

Clark, who is planning to go to Southern Utah University, said he enjoys being outdoors building a house. But there’s practical knowledge Clark said he’s also acquired.

"I’ve used what I learned in my home," he said.

All four students said they would like to go into the construction field. Drury said that students have obtained so many skills that they are sometimes surprised by it.

"The other day I was asking them to put up a wall, and they looked at me and said, ‘We don’t know how to,’" he recounted. "Then I told them, ‘But you just did it.’"