All the great videos being presented at the Tiny House Summit have really fired my imagination. One of these videos by Saul Rip Hansen was about tiny house high school shop classes. I think this is a great idea. Shop classes in high school played a key role in my career as a woodworker and contractor, and I can see where the right program would be very beneficial.
Quick note about Saul’s video: His 102 minute keynote presentation for the Summit is packed with demographic information and other details that would be very valuable to anyone working in this field. I’m thinking in particular of tiny house designers, builders and other entrepreneurs. If the legal ‘doors’ are fully opened to allowing tiny houses as either RVs or accessory dwelling units (which they already are in some areas) then the potential market is staggering. Again, as mentioned previously, these Summit videos are available for free this week only. After that they will be sold as a package.
So here’s my closely related idea: create a tiny house curriculum and training program for technical colleges. High school shop programs are great, but an in-depth training program for older students who are seriously interested in entering the construction field might be of even more value. It shouldn’t be too hard to adapt Saul’s program to technical colleges. A tech college program like this would turn out qualified workers who have a whole range of skills versus just one specialty such as carpentry or electrical. What do you think?
I’m watching another video in the Tiny House Summit series about the training at West Henderson high school. A new carpentry teacher at the school said the thing that surprised him most was how hard it was to get students excited about a project. Mark Searcy said, “They wanted to sit and play with their phones, and as soon as this tiny house pulled in, from the sub floor on up, the classes just piled in and everybody was engaged. So, the tiny house has made my job a lot easier.”
http://wlos.com/news/local/high-school-students-help-build-a-tiny-home