Eastern Shore Community College offers a NCCER Core Construction class, which is an Introduction to Construction class developed by the National Center for Construction Education and Research. For the spring 2024 semester, students decided to build dog houses as one of their major projects. 

The class is co-taught by Julius Newsome and Cindy Stevens. As the instructors, their goal was to have the students engaged in projects that come back to benefit the community. Cindy Stevens noted “It’s important for the students to take some ownership of the project and in the process earn the recognition for their efforts.”  

Julius Newsome commented, “Seeing the students grow with their abilities and confidence is a huge part of reaching additional levels and abilities in this field.”  Members of the class learn about opportunities in the field of construction, in addition to basic safety, communication and employability skills, construction math and drawings, and material handling.  “Learning to use hand and power tools safely is always a popular part of our classes” Newsome added.

ESCC President Dr. Jim Shaeffer elaborated “Walking by the window of our Flex Lab, I joined everyone on campus in enjoying watching the progress of these dog houses.”  The social media postings of the builds making their way towards completion garnered quite a bit of community attention as the students added the final touches in late spring.

Osiris Gomez-Tinoco, Hermy Rodriguez, Dillon Ruane, and Angel Velasquez-Roblero constructed two 3’x3’ dog houses, one of which the students decided to donate back to the college for an upcoming fundraising event for scholarships.  Last year’s project of student-built bird houses were auctioned off at the Annual Foundation Oyster Roast to an extremely captivated audience.

In the interest of a high-profile location to showcase their work, the students decided to donate their second doghouse to the Onancock Dog Park.  Onancock Town Manager Matt Spuck graciously accepted the donation and thanked the students for their efforts and contribution.  Orsiris, Hermy, Dillon, and Angel are very excited for the community to stop by and see their newfound craftsmanship being put to good use.

For those interested in upcoming installments of the NCCER Core Construction Class, please contact ESCC Workforce at 757-789-7979 or email workforce@es.vccs.edu.