LILLINGTON, NC - Last week, Career and Technical Education (CTE) students from Lee County and Southern Lee High Schools were busy building, wiring, and plumbing in a project-based learning competition that brought together students from those disciplines at public high schools in Lee and Harnett Counties.
Teams of students from these schools participated in electrical wiring, plumbing, framing and construction competitions at the annual BUILD Harnett/Lee competition. The highlight of the competition was the construction of a chicken coop by each participating school’s construction teams.
Ethan Oakley, a junior at Southern Lee in the construction class, participated in the build. Also a student in the Caterpillar Junior Welding Apprenticeship Program, Oakey views additional CTE learning opportunities as a place to build more valuable skills. “The best part is just working with other people. Coming together and putting everything together and figuring out how to get it done is a lot of fun.”
He added, “I like being outside. I would rather be outside doing things, than sitting in a class trying to learn. I want to be a welder, but construction class teaches me things I can do not just on a job site but even at my own home or on my own projects that can either save or make me money.”
Southern Lee High School’s construction team led by Mr. Kenneth Page placed second in the chicken coop competition, constructing a quaint thyme green coop, working together to complete the construction in less than two days. Lee County High School’s group finished the same construction plan with a blue decor.
Each 5 foot by 6 foot coop built by student teams is now available through an online auction with a starting bid of $1000 and bids closing at 5:00 PM on April 17th. Proceeds from the sale of the coop will help sustain the BUILD programming. Winning bidders can either pick up the coop from the Harnett CCCC Main Campus in Lillington or choose to pay an additional $500 for delivery and set up.
The final day of competition also had a unique building project, with teams working to build a doghouse. Southern Lee students led by Mr. Regan took first place in that competition with Lee County High School finishing second.
Bid on the Southern Lee HS CTE Chicken Coop HERE
Bid on the Lee County HS CTE Chicken Coop HERE
Bid on any of the Chicken Coops built by participating schools through a Google Form found on the Harnett County Schools Career and Technical Education Page through auction close (April 17th).