HAYS


STUDENTS BUILDING


TINY HOME from the ground up


BY GREG PRICE insight magazine


There’s no place like home. For some of the student body at Hays School, that home just happens to be smaller than most. Hays School held a tiny home gala in January at the Hays Civic Centre which high- lighted their building project. “Our students were actually putting the whole thing on.The Grades 7 to 9 (cooked) the meal, the Grades 4 to 6 (helped) out with the desserts, there (were) 200 made.They made the salads, (ran) the silent auction and (manned) the door for people when they checked in,”said Melissa Duckett, a Grade 4-6 homeroom teacher at Hays School.“It is fully our students who will be doing the entire project.” It was a kick-off to raise awareness for a


project where students will build a tiny home (about 320 square feet) from the ground level that will fit on an 8x30 foot trailer which will make it moveable. “Students from Grade 4 to 9 will be partak- ing in it,”said Duckett.“They are building it from start to finish. It will be based on 200 different outcomes for six grades. It will be an awesome, hands-on experience for them to learn how to be an electrician,how to be a plumber.” “(Also) how to be a contractor and what-


not in how to do a build.” At the fundraising gala, students made a


presentation on the project, showing the floor plans that were chosen. “There were three floor plans that were chosen that we were all voting on,” said Duckett.“That will be the floor plan we bring to the architect that we will be building.” After the tiny house is completed in June,


the project will be sold with funds going back to the school. “It’ll update technology in the school,go


towards sports equipment and offset the cost of field trips,”said Duckett. At first,Duckett wanted her Grade 4 to 6


Career and Technology Foundations class to build a model of a version of a tiny home. Bringing up the concept to her neighbour, her neighbour encouraged her to think bigger. “It just so happened that one of our new


teachers this year is a certified (Red Seal) journeyman carpenter and I thought ‘this is perfect, this is meant to be’,”said Duckett. “Let’s do this on a grand scale and bring on more hands-on learning from the kids.We may have some students who do not make the choice to go to college or university.Well,


here’s a trade you can learn. Education comes in all forms and the trades are fantastic.” The typical North American home is around 2,600 square feet, with a tiny house being usually around 100-400 square feet and still features all the necessities of a kitchen area, bathroom, sleeping area,as well as electrical, heating and plumbing in the compact living space.These tiny homes are usually on wheels,making them easier to relocate. Having wheels also means they can be con- sidered a ‘recreational vehicle’,making it easi- er for the owner to comply with zoning and land regulations in many different North American jurisdictions. A growing number of people are using tiny houses as their main residence, to live more simply and economically with reduction in cost, taxes, utilities and maintenance. For seniors,they can be considered innova-


tive living arrangements where the tiny house can be located on the same property as their child’s main house. For those with adult children living in many different parts of the country, having a tiny house at the dif- ferent locations allows grandparents to stay involved in their grandkid’s lives.


6 - insight magazine march 2019


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