Building hope: Students construct sheds for fire-affected families

An 8-by-16-foot shed built by Mazama High School students is helping a Sprague River family who lost their home in the Copperfield Fire.

On Friday morning, Mazama construction students gathered around the completed structure for a photo, quietly celebrating a job well done. The shed was picked up and transported to the Sprague River area on Saturday to provide storage for a family who lost everything in September’s Copperfield Fire.

Mazama seniors Tyler Casey and Greta Baldock were among the group of 30 students who spent the past four weeks building the shed in Mazama’s shop area. The two are advanced construction students in the manufacturing 4 class.

Baldock loves working with her hands, and was pleased that the shed would be provided to a family who needed it.

Casey, dubbed the shingle master for his roofing skills, plans to be a wildland firefighter for one year after graduation before joining the Air Force with the goal of being an aircraft mechanic.

“I’ll be fighting fire for a year, so it’s pretty cool the shed is going to a family who lost their home in a fire,” he said.

Mazama’s shed is the first to be completed by high school students this fall and is one of five being built by students in the Klamath Basin through Team Oregon Build. Lost River, Henley, Bonanza, and Eagle Ridge construction students are in the process of completing similar sheds for Sprague River-area families impacted by September’s Copperfield Fire. Chiloquin students are building a shed, but it will be a smaller 8×8-foot version.

Klamath Community College students are also participating in the program, building two insulated cottages with electricity and heating for fire victims. The sheds will be used by property owners as storage. The cottages can be used as temporary housing.

Michael Edwards, Mazama’s manufacturing and construction teacher, said the curriculum, blueprints, and materials provided by Team Oregon Build helped students learn and successfully complete the project.

“There aren’t many students who get to build sheds like this, especially sheds that are going to be used for such a good purpose,” he said. “Our next step is to keep building sheds and then hopefully partner with an agency to eventually build the mini-cottages.”

The cottages require students to learn about wiring and insulation, advancing their skillset beyond what the sheds offer.

Anna Monteil, Mazama CTE coordinator, is excited about the ongoing Team Oregon Build program.

“This is incredible, and I think our students are starting to realize that what they are doing is making a difference,” she said. “We are sending the first one, but there are other high schools building sheds right now, and once they are loaded and shipped, all of these sheds will make a huge impact.”

Team Oregon Build started in September 2023, partnering with the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), the Oregon Housing Authority and Oregon Department of Education, to provide funding for high school CTE programs, so students can build sheds and cottages as emergency housing. The program works with PIVOT Architecture in Eugene, which creates and provides the blueprints and plans for students to follow. Lowe’s Home Improvement is contracted to ship the materials needed to the schools.

Last year, the organization trained 160 CTE and construction teachers throughout Oregon, and students in the Klamath County School District began building smaller 8×8 foot sheds that could be donated to non-profit organizations or used for campus storage needs.

Brian Robin, Career and Technical Education (CTE) coordinator at the Southern Oregon Education Service District, has been building partnerships with non-profits needing the storage and emergency housing, working through permitting and other issues.

This fall, Robin was connected with a victim of the Copperfield Fire, and from there, word spread. A total of seven structures – five sheds and two cottages – will be built by local students and delivered to impacted families.

“The crew at Mazama have done a great job,” Robin said, adding that all the teams in the process of building should be commended. “You have some amazing educators passing their passion onto some really engaged students.”

Moving the 8×16 foot shed from Mazama High School to Sprague River took effort. Oregon State Fire and Resilience worked with a local shipper from Bend to move the shed directly to the property in Sprague River.

Mazama Vice Principal Sergio Cisneros was there while the student-built shed was loaded onto a trailer.

“It’s so gratifying to see the end result of students learning hands-on skills being put to use in a real-life situation that helps their neighbors and community,” he said.