By the end of this school year, a vacant lot in Great Falls will have a home on it — built entirely by high school students.
NeighborWorks Great Falls and Great Falls Public Schools broke ground Wednesday on the 49th High School House, a program that has been putting students to work on real construction sites since 1997.
Students provide all the labor while NeighborWorks handles the lot, financing, and subcontractors. This year's lot was secured through a Wells Fargo donation.
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The timing could not be more significant. According to the Great Falls Association of Realtors, the city is already 630 units per year short of what it needs—a gap expected to grow as major employers like Janicki Industries bring new workers to the area.
Instructor Pete Pace has been leading students through the program for 16 years — and says what they build goes beyond four walls.
"To build something and to have that brain-to-hand connection and really learn to do things right and work hard is huge for anybody — and especially for these students," Pace said.
For Pace, the program's value extends well beyond construction skills.
"It's such a morale booster. It builds confidence. It builds all these things in these students that maybe you're not getting in other avenues of your life," Pace said.
For junior Kolten Kolve, the decision to enroll was personal. His father went through the same program in Great Falls — under a teacher GFPS considers a legend, Bruce Barta — and the skills he gained have never left him.
"He's a big part of why I wanted to take it this year. He said it's just great to get skills in life. And also he never has to hire anything out — he just does it by himself. So that's what I want to do — get skills so I can do stuff on my own in the real world," Kolve said.
Kolve says his primary goal is to play baseball professionally — but if that path does not work out, he wants to go into the trades. It is exactly the kind of outcome the program is designed to produce.
The finished home will be sold to a buyer whom NeighborWorks has been preparing for homeownership — adding one more house to a city that desperately needs them. With the 50th house on the horizon, organizers say the program shows no signs of slowing down.
CLICK HERE for more information about the High School House Program.
