<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1K1CBI_0vkowSQ800" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1K1CBI_0vkowSQ800" width="1280" height="853" ></figure>MOUNT VERNON — Matt Gutridge has confidence for the upcoming workforce.Gutride, the construction manager for Knox County Habitat for Humanity, is working alongside 42 Knox County Career Center juniors and seniors in building homes along Columbus Road. “Their commitment and pride here is amazing,” Gutridge said. “They all jumped in with both feet. Their dedication is astounding.”In March, the Ariel Foundation Park Conservancy donated 15 vacant parcels in the Columbus Road/South Vernon neighborhood to the Knox County Land Bank. Of the 15 lots, 12 are buildable. Knox County Habitat for Humanity is working alongside the land bank to build 12 houses on those lots.The career center has worked with Habitat For Humanity for “a long time,” Career Center superintendent Kathy Greenich said. Career center students were placing insulating concrete form insulations at 61 Columbus Road on Sept. 18, learning various construction techniques for building with concrete walls. The land bank will hold a kickoff event for the roughly 1,400 square-foot house on Monday, Oct. 7, from 9 to 11 a.m. to celebrate the joint housing project.<h2>What career center students learn</h2>The 42 career center students are part of the school’s building trades program preparing the juniors and seniors for the workforce post-graduation. The students are active participants in the Columbus Road housing project having been certified in equipment and construction site safety. It’s “experience like they’re working on a traditional job site,” Gutridge said. Students spend roughly three to four hours a day at the construction site, traveling from the career center to 61 Columbus Road, Gutridge said. Besides putting up styrofoam-type blocks, building trades instructor Colby Clippinger said students are pouring concrete, installing sub-flooring, doors and steel support beams. Students have also earned an ICF industry credential, which they used on the Columbus Road job site. “This is helping the community in more ways than one,” Gutridge said. “It’s helping the county train our future workforce.” </div></body>

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Building for the Future: Students help construct innovative housing in Knox County

MOUNT VERNON — Matt Gutridge has confidence for the upcoming workforce. Gutride, the construction manager for Knox County Habitat for Humanity, is working alongside 42 Knox County Career Center juniors and seniors in building homes along Columbus Road. “Their commitment and pride here is amazing,” Gutridge said. “They all...