Lake Shore High School offers a diverse set of Career and Technical Education classes, one of these classes is the Building Renovations course. Run by Justin Winters, this course allows students to accomplish tasks that prepare them for future careers like carpentry, plumbing, construction, and many other trades.

Some of these tasks include laying down drywall, building foundations for homes, assembling bathroom accessories like toilets and sinks, and adept knowledge of safety and how to use power tools and heavy machinery. Although this may sound like a lot they may tackle, these are only some of the things this course offers.

Building Renovations students can earn certifications that will benefit them in future careers, one of these certifications is completing the OSHA-10 training. The OSHA-10 is a ten-hour training program that teaches you about workplace safety and health hazards, including electrical hazards, machine guarding, hazardous materials, fall protection, and much more. After a student has completed the OSHA training, they’re given a certificate showing they have learned the safety and health hazards, which will be very useful in the workforce.

Another certification that this course has to offer is a certification in CAT Heavy Equipment. This program teaches the students how to use Bulldozers, excavators, and skid steers. This certification will benefit students seeking careers in construction, forestry, agriculture, etc.

Building Renovations also allow students to obtain a one-year credit in a carpentry apprenticeship program that houses six hundred eighty-seven carpenters! This certification opens an amazing doorway for Building Renovations students because it already gives them the ability to become a carpenter and join a union since this class has allowed them to join an apprenticeship program.

Building Renovations teaches students how to fix real-life problems that could happen in your home. It can also teach the students how to renovate homes and fix them.

Winters has several expectations and hopes for his students in this course. Winters believes students should take this CTE course because they will learn skills that they will use for the rest of their lives, he said, “Everyone owns a house eventually, which shows why this course is vital for every student. Winters also teaches his students very important lessons in the classroom, these lessons consist of teaching them safety, and the knowledge of how to use equipment ensuring that they do it right.”

By teaching his students these lessons, Winters wants to prepare every one of his students for a great future and skilled trades he says “It’s kind of a thing in the past with a four-year program if you go through a percent apprenticeship program, you can make a great living”

Winters also claims that the course entails Residential Building essentially from footings to foundations to roofs he has three different heavy lifting simulators through Caterpillar “very fun class” if you are looking to go into a trade career that can prepare you for many trade careers like plumbing, electrical, framing, residential construction, and electrical.