BY MATTHEW E. MILLIKEN

mmilliken@heraldsun.com; 419-6684



That's because the Hillside High School junior, a beginning carpentry student at the Holton Career and Resource Center, is benefiting from a new partnership.

District officials and more than a dozen allies gathered in the Holton carpentry lab Thursday morning to hear the Durham Careers in Construction Committee announce that it is officially taking Holton under its wing.

Holton, Durham's newest public school, opened in August and serves vocational students exclusively. (Enrollees take other courses at their home high schools; Holton also houses a public medical clinic and recreation center.) It currently has 57 students, including 11 in the introductory carpentry class.

"The opportunity to learn at Holton career center is a great one," Parker told onlookers at a brief ceremony. "It's important to have practical skills and that is what I'm getting at Holton. It is really cool."

Holton is the fifth local public school that Careers in Construction is helping. The others: E.K. Powe Elementary, Brogden Middle, Northern High, and the Construction and Architectural Design Academy at Southern High.

The first tangible benefit of the partnership between Careers in Construction and Holton was the delivery Thursday morning of thousands of dollars' worth of wood, plywood siding, shingles, door and window trim, nails, screws, hinges and other supplies.

Lloyd Dunn's carpentry students will use the material to build two 6-by-9-foot storage sheds. One will be donated to Habitat for Humanity and the other will be auctioned off. Proceeds will support the Holton construction program.

"I can't wait to get started on our project," Parker told listeners. "It's exciting to do something that will help my future and my career."

The high-schoolers started unloading materials from the truck as soon as the announcement was completed.

"What a great opportunity this is to share our resources with the faculty and students of Holton," said Chuck Wilson, president of C.T. Wilson Construction, a sponsor of Careers in Construction.

Wilson told the assembly that the construction trade is one of the nation's largest employers and "the leading industry in the country where entry-level people come in and end up being multimillionaires before they retire."

"We're grateful for this opportunity and we're hopeful that we will help these young people change their lives and become productive citizens," said Bill Downey, the CEO of L.A. Downey and Son general contractors, another Careers in Construction sponsor.

Downey praised the newly renovated Holton building. "It's just an incredible facility, and I've heard that all morning as people have walked into this room," he said. "What a great lab this is for our construction industry."

During the event, outgoing Durham Superintendent Carl Harris and Holton Principal Gloria Woods-Weeks thanked Careers in Construction for supporting the new school. Also, Kirsten Weeks of Cisco, the chairwoman of the Superintendent's Business Advisory Council, said that her group would continue to support Durham schools even after the departure of Harris, the council's founder.