Fruita Middle School engineering class aims to spark interest in construction careers

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) — Students at Fruita Middle School are getting hands-on experience in the construction trades through an engineering class that has eighth-graders build one shed per quarter.

On Wednesday, local businesses joined the class to help students complete a full roof installation in a single day. Grand Junction Roofing and Fruita Sheds donated materials for the project.

The class is in its first year at Fruita Middle School. The teacher responsible for the opportunity said the goal is to connect classroom learning to real-world applications.

“Doing normal engineering classes inside a classroom is fun and fine, but it’s way more fun to get to have students building real-world applications,” said Nathan Savig, engineering education teacher at Fruita Middle School. “My 8th grade class builds one shed per quarter, and today we had Grand Junction Roofing out, helping us work with Fruita Sheds, donate all the material for the sheds — and we roofed this whole thing in a day. We couldn’t have done that normally.”

Savig said the program is also designed to expose students to careers in the construction trades.

“It makes a class more interesting. Anything that we make that is real is going to get more student involvement, more student interest,” Savig said. “But it’s also teaching important career skills. In general, construction trades are aging out. They pay super well, and students aren’t going into them. So getting them excited about these skills — that can be awesome careers as well as just summer jobs if they need it, or even working on their own house — is huge.”

Some students said the class has given them useful knowledge and a chance to explore future career options.

“I’ve been enjoying this class a lot because it has a lot of learning opportunities for your future,” said Clayton Gale, an eighth-grade student at Fruita Middle School. “So you can figure out if you want to do that in your future or not.”

Savig encourages future students to try the class as it builds confidence alongside practical skills.

“Whether you think you have these skills or not, you learn,” said Savig. “And no matter what, you are going to need to build something in your life. So definitely take the class. Learn how to do it now so that you can do it for the rest of your life and have that skill in your back pocket.”

Savig said the program hopes to continue through ongoing community partnerships, and their first shed is being auctioned Saturday, March 14, at the Cattleman’s Auction in Loma, Colorado.