Student-built tiny home delivered to Burlington

When given a real-world assignment last school year, La Conner High School students nailed it.

Both literally and figuratively.

The school’s construction class, taught by Daniel Castillo, built a tiny house as part of career and technology curriculum and the finished product was recently delivered to the tiny home village on Pease Road in Burlington.

Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton and representatives of the Low Income Housing Institute, which paid for the materials used on the project, were present when the student-built house arrived.

“My only regret after this fabulous experience with the students,” Castillo told the Weekly News on Thursday, “is that the tiny home was only able to be delivered from the La Conner High School woodshop to its location after the school year concluded, thus making it nigh impossible for our students to attend the delivery.”

Castillo named the project’s builders: Brandon Mireless, Zachary Miller, Floyd Dent Andrew Villard, Robbie George, Jacob Pommels, Alex Martin, Bradley Williams, Shawn Sampson and Mason Groesbeck.

They began work on the tiny house in mid-November, making the most of daily 48-minute class periods to meet a June 1 completion deadline.

Castillo said at the time that construction of the home would introduce students to key skill sets – from measuring and marking to accurate cutting to fastening, framing and finish work.

Above all, he said, the students knew they were doing something to help alleviate the housing crunch in Skagit County, which has the state’s lowest rental vacancy rate at less than one percent.

The lack of affordable housing is the biggest factor driving homelessness in Skagit County, according to outreach workers who toil on the front lines of the issue.

Providing shelter for people in need was a major factor inspiring the student construction project, Castillo said.

Castillo also designed the tiny house assignment so that students could rub elbows with professional builders in the La Conner area. He issued an open invitation for local carpenters to lend a hand and share their expertise.

“It’s valuable for the students,” he explained, “to see people other than me who are in the trades.”

Castillo said the 10-member class took part in something tangible that will define their school days for a long time to come.

“(It was) a chance,” he reflected, “to serve our community while affording the students a chance to build their carpentry skills.”