Boulder Creek is one of Langdon’s newest communities where the concept of quitter neighbourhoods and larger lots has been resurrected. The amazing folks from Stepper Customs Homes have been developing this area into the great neighbourhood it has become.
Along with developing this delightful community of Langdon, they partnered with the staff of Langdon School and the Grade 7 science students to help them with their structures and forces unit.
Colin MacDonald, grade 7 science teacher at Langdon School, explained “Grade 7 Science classes from Langdon School travelled to Boulder Creek on November 12th to explore a framed home. The field trip was generously sponsored by Stepper Homes. The field trip connects to the current Science unit involving structures and forces. Students explored the home to gain a better understanding of home building and the forces that a framed structure must withstand. The unit will finish with a model city build that incorporates structural design elements, based on the course content”.
In class teaching is of course highly important, but to get that hands on experience really helps the students put into perspective what they are learning inside the classroom.
We spoke with Georgina Nicholis, Safety Advisor with Stepper Homes who told us, “We felt that taking the opportunity to reach out to our next generation of workers was important. Being able to share our knowledge and experience is key for students learning about the different facets of our industry. Many have a very two dimensional understanding of what it takes to build a home, we tried to bring that into a more realistic focus”.
Nicholis explained that their goals for working with the students were two fold, firstly to share information about their industry and the pride they take in the homes that they build. “Also to be able to have even one teaching moment that may impact these students is vital. To that end we provided the students with a draft layout of the building, a finished mock-up of the product as well as safety protocols that we follow. This was to help them understand that safety is an integral part of production and needs to be included in the operations and costing structure”.
Stepper Homes has a long history of supporting youth education, dating back to 2004 when they started their partnership with the Construction Trades Program at Bowness High School, which is still active today. “With the support of our team here at Stepper we have been mentoring high school students through NAOSH week events as well for the last 5 years, reaching out to over 2000 students and educators in Calgary and the surrounding areas”, said Nicholis.
As for the students that participated, “The overwhelming sentiment expressed by the students was that this was one of the best field trips that they have ever been on”, explained Mr. MacDonald.
