HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The North Alabama Homebuilding Academy (NAHA) is working to open up to those interested in pursuing a career in the home building industry.
The academy has established a mobile classroom designed to educate local K-12 students about careers in construction through hands-on activities.
“We’ll make an appointment to come out and spend a day or an hour with them,” Larry Durham, president of the Durham Company, said. “It’s up to the school and the teachers how they want to work with us. For a long time everyone was on… ‘We need to go to college, we need to go to college, we need to go to college…’ It’s just not for everyone, there are other options out there.”
Officials say they first brought the mobile unit to Guntersville Middle School two weeks ago as a test run, and say students have been very receptive to the classroom on wheels. Now they say they’re ready to show the rest of North Alabama.
“Sometimes schools have a hard time getting students into our facility, so we thought why not bring it to them,” NAHA Executive Administrator Tommy Davis said. “That’s when the idea of the mobile classroom came about.”
Taking a closer look inside the mobile unit, officials tell News 19 there are a variety of tools on deck.
“Anything from a miter saw to handheld, battery-powered tools that we can use with the students,” Davis said. “Of course there are some tools that we don’t give them – we use them ourselves – but we can show students how they work.”
Davis says this mobile classroom will benefit North Alabama at a time of massive growth while facing labor and housing shortages.
“First of all, one of the things we want to make clear to students is that there are a lot of jobs, especially in this field,” he said. “Everywhere you look, construction is going on these days. The beauty of the construction industry is that it’s not just a job, it’s a career path. They can start at that entry level and work their way up to being a business owner one day if they want to.”
NAHA says they offer different program experience options to fit your needs.
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Those interested should contact NAHA’s Marketing Coordinator and Career Coach, Marley Phillips, with questions or to book their school attendance either by calling 256-936-1800 or emailing [email protected]