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Kentucky Students Building Tiny, Learning Big

Public News Service

The popularity of tiny houses has become a teaching tool for dozens of vocational education and technology students in eastern Kentucky.

Students from five counties are earning credits in math, science and English, as well as construction and business skills, as they build three tiny houses.

The Building It Forward project is the brainchild of Dessie Bowling, associate director of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative. She says the tiny house projects get the students engaged in learning and also address the region's economic transition.

"So, I think it does spark their creativity and then, looking at how they can help their community, especially in our area where the coal industry has seen such decline," she states.

Chosen last spring from six applications, each project received $15,000 to work with. The students, who come from high schools and vocational tech centers in Knott, Lee, Pike, Owsley and Wolfe counties, will have their tiny houses auctioned off at an educational summit in Pikeville on April 12.

Bowling says the money will be used to fund tiny house construction projects again next school year.

Kim Casey, a senior at Phelps High School, says it's her favorite class and she's learning a lot more than just how to hammer and saw. She's also learning about regulations and building codes, design and business skills.

"How everything works,” she explains. “How everything is designed. And how everything fits together."

Johnny Stell is also in the three-hour-a-day vocational class at Phelps High School. He says he's gaining experience for a potential career in construction.

"I came into this class not knowing anything about carpentry,” he states. “Never done it before in my life. And I came in here and just learned so much."

Stell says he hopes to have his own construction business someday, and he's convinced tiny homes can become a great housing alternative in Kentucky.