Editor’s note: This is the seventh and final in a series of stories highlighting Hermiston School District’s career and technical education (CTE) programs. Read the previous installments here:

• How Hermiston’s CTE Programs Are Shaping Tomorrow’s Workforce
• Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resource Systems
• Arts, Information, and Communications
• Business and Management
• Health Sciences
• Education

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A year ago, Curt Berger and his wife, Roxane, were looking to move back to Hermiston from the Tri-Cities, Washington. Roxane had just retired from her job as a safety instructor at the Hanford Site, allowing the couple to live closer to Curt’s work with the Hermiston School District.

The house they were eyeing was perfect — brand new, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, three-car garage, real wood trim, located in an upscale subdivision with a calm, country feel.

Curt was all too familiar with the place. After all, he and a class of his students had built it.

Two students work together a house with the Columbia Basin Student Homebuilder Program. 

As the director of the Columbia Basin Student Homebuilder Program, Berger and students have constructed 11 homes over the past 11 years, with a 12th underway this school year. The program, created in alliance with the Northeast Oregon Homebuilders Association, is part of Hermiston High School’s career and technical education (CTE) pathway focused on Industrial and Engineering Systems, helping students pursue careers in vocational trades.

“These are great, high-paying occupations that take a lot of skills and smarts,” Berger said. “This is just one way to help them move in that direction.”

‘From The Ground Up’

The Industrial and Engineering Systems pathway at HHS is divided into two separate tracks: construction and engineering technology.

In construction, students take several introductory and intermediate classes designed to teach them the basics, including how to read blueprints, how to use tools, and how to stay safe on a job site. From there, they can apply to participate in the Student Homebuilders Program, where they gain real-world exposure and training under the supervision of professionals.

Students install siding on a house with the Columbia Basin Student Homebuilder Program. 

“Students literally see a house getting finished from the ground up,” Berger said. “These are turnkey homes. The person moving in just has to turn the key and walk in.”

Berger, a longtime HSD coach and teacher, was tapped to lead the Student Homebuilders Program when it was created in 2014. The program was started with a $400,000 CTE grant, and proceeds from each home sale have gone toward sustaining the program.

The neighborhood, called Fieldstone Crossing, is on West Angus Avenue within Hermiston city limits. The first 11 completed homes make up Phase 1 of the development, including the 10th home which was purchased by the Bergers.

“It’s a neat feeling,” Berger said of living in the house. “I remember the nails going in. I remember students doing the work while I was standing right there … The quality is fantastic.”

The real satisfaction, however, comes from training the next generation of tradesmen and women while simultaneously adding much-needed housing for Hermiston’s growing population, Berger said. A former student, Gideon Fritz, who graduated in 2019, is poised to take over as program director after Berger steps down.

“It’s been tremendous for the community,” he said. “We’re teaching kids how to work. That’s what’s really happening in this class.”

Students with the Columbia Basin Student Homebuilder Program stand in front of a completed house in Hermiston. 

Thinking Big

For the first time this year, HHS’ engineering technology program also lent a hand in the student-built house, designing the floor plan and submitting it to the city Building Department for approval.

But that’s far from the only project these students are building from scratch.

John Fisher, who teaches robotics and engineering for HHS, said he has marveled at students’ creativity and ingenuity — including one who built a rocket with thrust vector control and another who designed parts for a CPAP machine using a 3D printer.

Willow Jentzsch stands next to a UV print jig at AWS’ “Think Big Space” in Hermiston.

Fisher and his classes work out of Amazon Web Services’ “Think Big Space” in Hermiston, opened in 2022. The space serves as an educational lab, equipped with laser engraving machines, graphics printers, and other tools needed to bring students’ creations to life.

“I’m always amazed by what a student is thinking and what they want to pursue,” Fisher said. “When ‘Think Big’ started, it was about thinking outside of the box.”

Along with flexing their outside-the-box thinking, Fisher said the program is about teaching problem-solving and critical analysis. Specifically, he said the design process often involves trial and error. He wants students to know it’s OK to fail on their first try.

“You’re not going to produce the perfect thing on the first try,” Fisher said. “It might take 30 iterations or tweaks to an idea to get it to work. It’s about taking action to move forward.”

Because industry and technology are always changing, Fisher said the program relies on its advisory committee and local partners to ensure they are keeping up to date. Whether it’s food processing, homebuilding, or designing energy systems to keep up with the proliferation of data centers in Umatilla and Morrow counties, Fisher said there are ample job opportunities to be had locally.

Even if a student decides not to pursue engineering as a career, the skills they learn can be applied to any job, he added.

“(CTE) is this bridge that allows students to take what they’re learning in the classroom and apply it in a different way,” Fisher said. “That’s a thing that students come out of here understanding. Everything is interconnected.”

Students show off their creations through HHS’ engineering technology program.