Carpentry instruction moved from the classroom to the community on Wednesday when students from South Lenoir High School helped with a Habitat for Humanity build in Kinston.

David Johnson calls the work “building more character with a hammer,” but the altruism at the heart of any Habitat for Humanity project offered another growth opportunity for a group of carpentry students from South Lenoir High School on Wednesday.

At a work site on Harper Drive in Kinston, where Habitat is building a 1,335-square-foot house, five students measured and hammered and assembled wall posts under the supervision of their teacher, Frank Emory, and Johnson, who is director of construction for Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne.

Impressed by the work South Lenoir students did on a Habitat build last year – “They did an awesome job,” Johnson said – he reached out again to Brittany Harrison, who regularly connects students enrolled in LCPS’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes with real-world work environments.

“CTE is very career focused,” said Harrison, the district’s Career Development Coordinator. “This opportunity gives students a chance to use what they’re learning in the classroom and put it to use in a real-life scenario, to see how the big picture comes together.”

In a program that can lead to certification in various trades, to OSHA 10 credentials, to apprenticeships and to associate degrees through Lenoir Community College, LCPS offers 23 specific “pathways” in 10 general areas of instruction, from agriculture to business management to health sciences to information technology.

Carpentry and masonry students at South Lenoir, North Lenoir and Kinston high schools benefited this year from a state grant of nearly $40,000 that paid for upgraded equipment, lumber and other supplies.

South Lenoir carpentry students hone their building skills at school, but hammering out the framing of a house that will soon be a family home is different, according to Emory.

“This is good experience for them,” the veteran teacher said as his students worked. “They get to practice their skills, but they also get to see how a project like this comes together.”

Students who volunteered for work Wednesday were Dillon Daughtey, Tyler Forbush, Jada Galog, Kaiden McKinney and David Bellamy.

 As a concept, Habitat for Humanity succeeds because volunteers sign on to its mission of providing affordable housing. 

“We try to get the community involved,” Johnson said. “We call it building more character with a hammer. Today, we’re showing these young people what it’s about, building a house and how one is put together.”:

Emory expected his students to leave the work site Wednesday afternoon with two things – more knowledge about construction and a connection to this place on Harper Drive.

“No matter what they did today,” Emory said, “they’ll be able to come by here years from now and say, ‘I built that house.’”