Students test their skills in carpentry challenge
RUSSELLVILLE – A hands-on carpentry competition recently gave building construction students from Franklin County Career Technical Center and Russellville High School some practical experience in their chosen fields.
Now in its second year, the contest featured three two-person teams from each school, representing the classes of Todd Johnson at the career tech center and Daryl Butts at RHS.
“Each team received a limited supply of materials and a blueprint to build a model house,” Butts explained. “They had to accurately measure, cut and assemble the structure. We are extremely proud of all the students for building their skills and knowledge through this experience.”
With RHS currently renovating its career tech building, Russellville students don’t have a shop to work in, and they are limited to when they can work at the county career tech center. The RHS students also have less experience overall.
To help level the playing field, RHS teams were given about a week to study the building plan, while Franklin County students did not receive the plan until the day before.
Johnson said the challenge required students to construct a four-sided house frame with a door, a gable roof and a sheathed front wall — components that test a broad range of carpentry abilities.
“One of the key things we’re trying to teach is the correct way to lay out walls, doors and roofs,” he said. “We gave the students about six hours to complete the project, and three teams successfully finished. We were very impressed.”
Hernan Hernandez and Jonathan Brown placed first in the competition, followed by Ricky Quintero and David Sanchez in second, all students at Tharptown High School.
Third place went to Matthew Fuller and Jackson Smith from RHS.
Hernandez called the experience both fun and rewarding, noting he enjoyed competing against friends and building his confidence for future contests.
Smith agreed, describing the effort as a true team project. “Building this structure was simpler than it appeared,” he said.
Russellville High School students Matthew Fuller and Jackson Smith took third place in the Franklin County carpentry skills contest.
Ricky Santibanez, who also competed, said the biggest challenge was adjusting to working with a teammate.
“I’m used to working by myself, so this really helped me learn more about teamwork,” he said. “I had a great time.”
The idea for the local competition began last year, when Johnson was assigned as a mentor to Butts, who was in his first year of teaching.
“I wanted to create something to help the students get comfortable competing,” Johnson said. “This gives more students the opportunity to gain experience and build confidence.”
While students also have opportunities to compete through SkillsUSA, a national organization that hosts district and state events for career tech students, those contests are limited.
Depending on the number of students in the program, teachers can take a maximum of three students to the district competition. From district, only the top three advance to state.
“Our competition allows students to work as teams, which is an experience not offered in the SkillsUSA contests,” Johnson said.
HeandButtsworktogether to decide which skills the competition should test, using state guidelines to help them. Johnson then designs a custom plan to match those targeted skill areas.
Johnson said they hope to expand the event in the future, possibly by adding an annual competition for more advanced students.
“The more opportunities we can give these kids to get hands-on experience — beyond just an hour and a half in class each day — the better,” he said. “That’s what we’re working toward.
“Events like this not only reinforce classroom learning,” he added, “but also prepare students for realworld careers in the skilled trades — an area of growing demand across Alabama and beyond.”
