The program serves to complement the Oct. 6 donation of three acres of land by the College to the Pioneer Valley chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The money will provide for the construction of four housing units near the corner of Southeast Street and Stanley Street. The program's purpose is to prepare participants to assume a leadership role in assisting volunteers at the location when construction starts in the fall of 2006.
The program, originally drafted and proposed during the fall semester of the 2005-06 school year, and its curriculum were developed by the executive director of Pioneer Valley Habitat, MJ Adams, Volunteer Coordinator Jess Wallis and other Habitat volunteers. The resulting program was advertised on the College's Web site as "an Interterm course designed to familiarize students with the construction of a single family home-from foundation to punch list," offering hands-on training at a Habitat work site in Northampton.
Registration sign-up for the course opened in December with five to 10 available spots. The course was open to Amherst College and Five College students alike. Like all Interterm courses, applicants were accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis with priority given to students at the College. Approximately 20 to 25 College students expressed interest. No Five College students showed up for the course. Enrollment was limited to the first 10 applicants. The students were Rebecca Dailey '08, Gretchen DeLuke '08, Jeffrey Gang '09, James Montana '08, Jonah Shepp '08, Vijay Ravikumar '06, Virginia Hulick '06, Stephen Scriber '06 and Nicholas Cuba '07.
Levels of preparation and students' prior experience varied. "Although I'm a decently handy guy, I felt pretty unprepared. Just swinging a hammer is more complicated than I thought-there are a half-dozen types of hammers, all with different properties," said Montana. Scriber commented, "Going into it, I probably had more experience than most of the class, having worked on two Habitat builds before. There were still huge gaps in my knowledge, of course, and Homebuilding 101 was useful," he said.
Students spent the next three weeks at Pioneer Valley Habitat's Westhampton Road build site. Upon arrival at the site, students were given a brief lecture and/or information session by one of five instructors-Stan Brown, Dave O'Brien, Mark Lange, Steve Ferrari or Michael Broad. "The volunteer instructors are our site supervisors, and in some cases, our crew leaders," said Wallis. "Many have been with Habitat for 10 years or more, and many have extensive construction experience."
Concerning the instructors, Montana said, "They're old construction guys who have done everything and seen everything. We're all in awe of their skills." Scriber added, "The instructors were knowledgeable and took the time to explain concepts in detail, sometimes much more than we actually needed."
The instruction sessions covered a broad range of topics, providing a basic overview of construction skill and tools. Afterwards, the students were given a chance to put the day's teachings into practice, working on available tasks throughout the work site. One such task was the installation of siding on a duplex on site.
"We've learned to do basic tasks of home construction, including interior walls, roofing, siding, doors and windows and putting in rafters," said Montana. Instruction also included topics such as footings and foundations, framing, trusses and sheathing and insulation and drywall. During the final week of the program, students attended a presentation in Springfield on Green Building, a design and construction practice that promotes environmental and economic health. Students familiarized themselves with the Amherst site while building sheds.
By the program's conclusion, the students were trained as crew leaders, capable of leading volunteers on specific tasks under the guidance of other members of Habitat for Humanity. On his experiences and education, Scriber commented, "I found the course to be an overall good experience. I'm sure these skills will be of use not only in habitat builds, but also being able to do things around the house. I have a lot of skills and an increased comfort with tools that will be quite useful living on my own after graduation."
Gang shared similar sentiments. "I feel more inspired to help out with the upcoming Amherst projects, and I know that with the skills I've gained in the past weeks, I can contribute much more than I otherwise would have," he said. "I hope more students will follow this initiative and help on the Amherst site."