Math class usually requires a pencil and calculator.
At Loveland High School, students also need a hammer and a hard hat.
Every year, about 150 students enroll in “Geometry in Construction." Students, usually sophomores, learn math concepts in the classroom, then use that knowledge to build a small homes.
“We basically started this because we knew what was currently going on was not working for all kids,” said teacher Scott Burke, one of the founders of the program. “We really felt like we needed to create a model that was a little bit different, something that actually helped kids in high-stake, standardized testing, but also gave them employable skills as well.”
It was a decade ago when Burke started teaching the program. The students’ first project was a small, one-bedroom cabin for a private buyer. Over time, Loveland High School started a partnership with Habitat for Humanity and built several homes for families in need.
“A few years back, we started something – a whole unit that was about issues of poverty and homelessness,” Burke said. For the first time this year, students built a tiny home that will help house local homeless.
Burke said teaching geometry this way allows students to not just learn the information, but retain it.
“We’re able to make direct connections. So that kids understand, when they’re calculating how to find an angle for example, that oh – by the way, you’re doing it in the classroom – and you’re going to do it right here on the construction site.”
Loveland High School also offers courses for older students who have completed the geometry program. Senior Haley Hansen is now helping supervise the current construction site and learning management skills.
“My role is to really oversee the project and make sure it’s going smoothly,” the 18-year old said. “And make sure the [younger] students feel comfortable with what they’re doing and what they’re building.”
Hansen, who says she suffers from dyslexia, first enrolled in the class to hopefully learn math in an easier way. She grew it love it more than she imagined.
“A big reason I stuck with this program is really because of the community aspect. I actually got to be a part of the community and feel like, as a high schooler, I was making an impact.”
After Hansen helped build a home for Habitat for Humanity, she got to meet the woman and her children who moved in. She said she also experienced homelessness, herself, for a short period of time during her childhood – and understands how important it is for families to have a place to call home.
“Just knowing these people, knowing they have emotions and they have needs and they need help and being able to provide that help by building a home –is something I will never forget from high school,” Hansen said. “Being able to help a family in need is something life changing for me.”
“If you really are compassionate about it, and you really do believe in it, then you can change the world,” said her teacher, Scott Burke. “And that’s what we try to empower kids to do.”
Hansen hopes to study construction management when she leaves for college next year. Burke says many of the former students who completed the class have also chosen career paths inspired by the program.
Now, he’s teaching other schools how to build similar math classes. Burke said the Loveland Geometry in Construction team has trained about 425 schools around the country how to replicate the program. Some are building houses, others are building smaller projects – like sheds.
Burke says he is proud of what the school has accomplished. During more than ten years with the program, they’ve taught more than 1,500 students this class and built 13 homes including this semester’s tiny home.
