House built by Greenback School students sells for $140K

A small blue house with a cheerful yellow door sits on the campus of Greenback School near the football field. It was just auctioned off for $140,000 to a local Greenback couple who will have the house moved down the street onto their lot.

The house is unique because it was built entirely by students enrolled in Greenback School Residential and Construction Teacher Gray Williams’ class.

The house, which is 1,456 sq. ft. and has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and comes with brand new kitchen appliances, was the first of its kind for the school.

Williams was inspired by his own experience building a house 40 years ago when he was a student at Karns High School.

When Greenback School received a large grant, Williams knew exactly what he wanted to propose.

“Give me $120,000, and I’ll build a house,” Williams told them.

The students began working on the house in Sept. of 2023, handling everything from construction to electrical, plumbing and roofing.

The nice thing about a project like this, Williams explained, is that the program gives the students the opportunity to learn all aspects of building a house. Prior to the house, students in his classes worked on utility barns and storage units.

Williams said the challenge with projects like those is that if students in his first-period class started a storage unit, the floor unit might be done by the time the second-period students rolled in. Those students would miss that aspect of building.

Every day was a surprise for the students, and sometimes, not knowing what would come next could prove a challenge for them. However, Williams said the students were excited and took great initiative when it came to the project.

Williams said the students would ask if they could come up on days the school during in-service days, when all the other students were out, to work on the house.

The class also had the support of the local Greenback community.

Leroy Johnson, a Greenback resident who had retired from the construction industry, struck up a conversation with the school’s principal during a football game and asked if he could come to check out the house the students were working on.

Williams said Johnson ended up coming to the house every day with his toolbelt in hand, ready to offer guidance to the class.

“The kids loved having him here,” Williams said.

Because the school is open, the house also caught the eye of community members who would go for walks in the morning. They would often stop by to see what was happening with the house being built on school property. At football games, where Williams also coaches, people would ask how the house was coming along.

“The excitement level was getting really high by the end of the school year,” Williams said.

Working on the house taught the students more than just building skills. They also learned important communication skills and skills they could take with them to their math and science classes.

Williams said when they first started, he told the students that he would help them make sense of the geometry they had been learning in classes because they were taking it outside of the classroom and giving it real-world application.

The students officially completed the house the week after school let out in May.

On July 27, the school held the auction. About eight to ten people put bids in on the house, and forty to fifty people came out to support the school and its students.

“We had a lot of moral support, which was great for me because I was as nervous as could be,” Williams laughed.

Williams said the fact that the house will stay in the neighborhood will be nice for the students, as they will be able to see the fruits of their labor utilized in their community. When he is near his old stomping grounds by Karns High School, Williams likes to check in on the house he built, all those years ago.

The house will have to be moved by Aug. 31, and once it’s gone, Williams plans to start a new one with his students. Williams, who designs the floor plans himself, said the new house will be bigger than the first.

“I’m so proud of the work that they’ve done, asking the right questions when they saw something that didn’t look quite right. As an educator, that’s what you want out of a student,” Williams said.