MATC educators find real-world experience for students

Madison Area Technical College students and instructors stand in front of a completed home. Students built the home as part of the school’s curriculum. Photos submitted by Madison Area Technical College

A home is sold each year to pay for next year’s construction project.

Instructors teach students about new building materials and processes. This year, students used structural insulated panels on the roof of the home.

John Stephany and Allie Berenyi know carpentry students need hands-on experience, but the Madison Area Technical College instructors struggled to find projects until one of them traveled to Florida.

A couple years ago in Orlando, Berenyi saw a small cabin designed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to replace trailers used to house people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The 500-square-foot design was simple but livable, and Berenyi pitched the idea of having students build one.

“At first I said, ‘You want to do what?’” Stephany said. “But, it’s worked out great.”

To ensure MATC carpentry students always have hands-on experience, the school’s construction and remodeling program builds and sells a small home each year.

MATC sent students to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity previously, but there was no guarantee projects would be at proper stages during various points in the carpentry program.

“It was one of the biggest problems we’d run into,” said Stephany, who worked in the trades for more than 20 years. “We’d discuss how to frame a floor, but you have to get your hands on the project.”

Stephany, who built homes with the Peace Corps, said the carpentry students completed a second cabin this school year. Each year, the cabin is sold to help pay for construction of next year’s project.

“We’re really fired up about it,” Stephany said. “We love teaching, and we love helping people become carpenters. Both [Berenyi] and I consider ourselves geeks when it comes to construction.”

As the mini-cabin takes shape during the one-year program, other program areas within MATC get involved. Apprentice plumbers, electricians and painters all work to complete the home.

Each step of the construction process coordinates with the curriculum of the construction and remodeling program.

Stephany, who earned a construction administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said MATC also tries to incorporate newer building materials and processes to help ensure students are well-versed in the latest industry trends. The program, for example, used structural insulated panels on the roof of this year’s home, he said.

“Technologies like [structural insulated panels] are more and more part of a carpenter’s reality,” Berenyi said. “It’s a real chance to broaden the horizons.”

Next year, students will learn another important facet of the construction process: client input.

A couple already is interested in next year’s project and plans to be involved from the design stage.

“The couple wants to be very involved in the process,” Berenyi said. “And they want to incorporate green-building options. It couldn’t be better or more relevant for the students.”