JOHN COFFELTEditor

CCHS construction class builds program of study for future classes

Coffee County Central High School’s new construction program has gotten some wins under its tool belt with a top showing at a recent competition and will soon be moving into a new shop on campus.

The Coffee County Construction program earned a first place award in wall framing and third place for rafter cutting at South Central Regional Construction Competitions that took place in Fayetteville on Jan. 30.

Junior Mason Smith said that “we got into the shop preparing for what we do. Everybody there was nice.”

Walking into the competition without any prior experience competing, the team was surprised by how well the team did, Career and Technical Education Director Richard Skipper said.

“This is the first time in the state that we’ve had a regional. Nobody knew what to expect.”

The team said that the other teams make a good showing. One team finished its project hours ahead of everyone else.

“There were some boys there that looked like grown men,” Junior Brayden Simmons said “I was expecting to get top three, but I wasn’t expecting to get first place.”

The construction program is in its second year at Coffee County.

“It’s still brand new,” Skipper said. “They have a brand new facility being worked on right now.”

Currently the class is working with the space available, but construction is underway for a new shop to house the class.

“Everybody in school has their niche,” Skipper said. “Everybody has to figure out what makes them go. Not everybody is into sports or band or whatever it is.”

Skipper said that it is a tremendous value to “celebrate success, whatever it is. That’s what motivates and drives them to be better, do better and to go more.”

Skipper said the class is setting the groundwork for what the class will be for the future.

“I’ve asked them to take the lead, to make it what they expect it to be and the classes behind them will follow that,” Skipper said.

“I’ve always been the type to be hands-on with stuff,” Simmons said. “I love building things. I thought I’d give it a try. That’s what got me there.”

Students competed in wall framing, tool identification, hand sawing, nail driving, rafter installation, and finish trim carpentry against 13 other high schools.

Juniors Charlie Carter and Adam Bradford took third place for Rafter cutting and Brayden Simmons and Mason Smith won first place in wall framing.

Class instructor Herb Nugent said that the class is valuable to students, even those who aren’t planning on a construction career.

“They really need to know how to do this. They can work on this in their own houses,” he said. “They know what to look for if they want to build a house…to see if it’s done right.”

Junior Charlie Carter added, “If somebody needs to build something for them, you know how to do it.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.