“Affordable homes where people can realize the dream of being a homeowner” is the project three Cookeville High School (CHS) students took on in the brand new Civil Engineering and Architectural class led by instructor Dave Powell. 

“This is the first year CHS has offered the Civil Engineering and Architectural class. It falls under Project Lead the Way (PLTW) the Putnam County School System has been a part of for many years. It provides learning experiences, hands-on STEM courses for K 12 students, and professional development for teachers,” said Powell. “Habitat for Humanity is part of the PLTW curriculum, and students were asked to design homes for them. I am proud of all the students for taking on a brand new class offering. They impressed me with their quality projects and professionalism.”

When given the project opportunity to design an affordable house, CHS Students Abigail Hickey, senior; Annaleisa Stanberry, junior; and Kamon Irwin, senior, chose to design homes for Upper Cumberland Habitat for Humanity. They researched the need for affordable homes and what involves building homes in a cost-effective manner. The three student designers had to look for design layout, functions, and material choices and strive to create a home with adaptable features that wouldn’t age out the home quickly. 

“We worked on this project all fall semester,” said Kamon Irwin. 

Abigail Hickey talks about the process of the project, “This project required a lot of research, and it was crucial. I plan to pursue architecture after high school. This class ultimately prepared me on how to conduct research,” said Abigail Hickey. “From there, it was knowing the Habitat guidelines. You constantly had to refer back to the guidelines to ensure you knew what to do.” 

Habitat For Humanity has guidelines for constructing a home, and students had to research those and collect a client survey to see the family's needs. Site plans, sketches of plans for electricity, plumbing, walls, windows, water supply, wastewater, and stormwater runoff calculations had to all be thought through and presented along with 3D renderings. 

Annaleisa Stanberry shared, “You found yourself going back to the guidelines constantly to make sure you developed the project correctly. As I found myself in the design portion, I thought about my house and what I would do to it if I could make changes. To see where we started, because looking at the syllabus for this project for the first time was a lot, but step-by-step, you began to see what you can accomplish.” 

Upper Cumberland Habitat For Humanity presented certificates to the three students for their outstanding projects. 

“It was so impressive to see the student’s project portfolios. A lot of hard work went into this and they executed it beautifully for high school students,” said Allison Smith, Director of Development for Upper Cumberland Habitat For Humanity.  “Myself, Interim Director Mike Porten and Director of Construction Mike Mears were thrilled to recognize these students and speak with Mr. Powell’s class about Habitat’s mission.”

Smith plans to send Irwins, Stanberry, and Hickey’s projects to the state Habitat for Humanity to be viewed and maybe one day used and developed. 

“It was cool to work on this project. To actually design a house that someone can live in one day is cool,” said Irwin.