While the new Sherwood High School was being constructed, Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers opted to take advantage of an ideal opportunity.

General contractor Skanska USA Building, electrical subcontractor Rosendin Electric and other parties that worked on the $147 million project cooperated with school staffers to devise a series of lessons for students to learn more about the construction industry and the skilled trades. Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Skanska worked closely with some high school construction management interns. Then, even after the pandemic shut down in-person instruction, CTE teachers Allison Meadows and Jon Dickover pursued more involvement for their pupils.

“I think that one of the requests that our school district had of Skanska was that they somehow involve students, and that helped grease the wheels for what we did a little bit,” Dickover said. “It helped that Rosendin and Tim (Moore, Northwest operations manager) had a clear vision of how they really wanted to help, so that was easy.”

Students enrolled in Sherwood’s CTE program can choose welding, woodworking and basic construction courses. With in-person classes cancelled for much of the 2020-21 school year, Dickover and Meadows asked subcontractors to provide virtual lessons in a wide variety of topics touching on the skilled trades and the wider industry. Firms obliged via Zoom and students then applied that instruction to their coursework assigned by teachers.

“Students sign up for CTE courses because they are hands-on-minded kids,” Meadows said. “We were thinking ‘How can we make this really relevant for them?’”

CTE students typically “hate sitting in front of a computer,” she added.

“We could have taught them out of a book, but that’s not how our students want to learn,” she said. “So, we structured it so we had as many speakers from different industries and as many professionals as possible come in. Students would see as many as four different speakers during the week and have a reflection about it on day five, and also have Q and A during those sessions.”

Other firms that took part and offered virtual lessons included BRIC Architecture (designer of the 353,000-square-foot facility), Anning-Johnson Company, Apollo Mechanical Contractors, Coffman Excavation, Dennis’ 7 Dees Landscaping, and Sowles Company. Additionally, representatives from Ironworkers Local 29, the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, the Sheet Metal Institute and Sheet Metal Workers Local 16, and UA Local 290 Plumbers and Steamfitters participated.

“All of these opportunities have been great in not only educating students, but their parents as well,” Rosendin Business Development Manager Courtney Hron said. “We find that a lot of parents weren’t ever told about the trades growing up, so they are more likely to also push the college path to their children. But programs like this have really helped open their eyes.”

It helped that Sherwood High School had a preexisting relationship with Rosendin. In past school years, students have visited the company’s Hillsboro office and shop.

“I think for years we wanted to do this,” Meadows said. “Jon (Dickover) and Tim (Moore) went round and round with multiple stakeholders about how this could be a dream program, but we couldn’t figure out how to solve it. We’ve all been talking about serving students in that way and this happened to be the prime time to drop it.”

A previous collaboration between Rosendin and the Sherwood School District led to construction of a concessions trailer for the high school softball program, Moore said.

“It was really fun, and we were just getting ready to frame it and COVID hit,” he said. “That was going to involve most of the trades, and the kids were really excited about it. What excites me is what we might be able to build in this trades class with the kids and give back at the same time.”

Now, with students on the brink of returning to in-person classes, the future of CTE education at Sherwood High School is brighter than ever.

“I think it’s more exciting to think about how this will impact our programs for future years and if it drives more students into that area as a result of sheer exposure to the trades,” Meadows said.

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In 2016, voters approved a $247.5 million bond measure proposed by Sherwood School District. Nearly three years later, construction crews are continuing to make progress on the largest bond project – a new high school expected to cost approximately $147 million.

BRIC Architecture designed the new Sherwood High School, which will have more square feet – 353,000 – than any other in Oregon when it’s completed. That will allow the facility to serve as many as 2,400 students.

“It became clear that creating a path to more capacity was what they needed,” BRIC Architecture principal Karina Ruiz said. “And we were able to create transformative projects downstream. We’ve been involved from the get-go in helping them shape what the high school of the future can be in Sherwood.”

Community discussions took place before the bond measure was put before voters. That process significantly informed the layout, appearance and amenities, Ruiz said.

Construction manager-general contractor Skanska USA Building began its work last summer, and completion is scheduled for summer 2020. Currently, a state-of-the-art auditorium and a 2,885-seat sports stadium are taking shape. Crews are building formwork and pouring the first slabs for the stadium. More than 800 vehicle parking spaces and 260 bicycle parking spaces will serve the school, the stadium, two baseball fields, two softball fields and two soccer fields.

Of course, security and technology will be plainly evident in the new school. A secure vestibule will be used to funnel visitors before they enter the main building. CCTV cameras, motion sensors and other tech-based security features also will be installed.

“There’s safety and security,” BRIC Architecture senior project manager Tonie Esteban said. “And there’s the push to have (Career and Technical Education) spaces. The equipment and spaces needed to support that type of education are more robust and they’re more costly; they’re more complicated buildings now.”

The new school will be far more energy efficient than its predecessor, with superior insulation, building envelope and mechanical systems. Further, all rainwater will be treated on site while windows will be positioned to let in substantial natural light.

“We were really intentional about orienting the building to maximize daylight,” Ruiz said.

The main entrance and its three-story, open-air foyer will provide a central gathering point for exploration of three distinct wings. From there, a student, teacher or visitor will be able to proceed straight into the massive cafeteria and common area dominated by a sloping, elevated ceiling and a learning stair reaching into the building’s lower level. It’s below the grade of the entrance due to the slope of the site, which rises 65 feet from east to west.

A four-story classroom wing will feature structural steel and slab-on-deck construction. It will extend south from the entrance and host the bulk of educational programming. This includes the CTE building, which has been given its own single-story space at the south end.

The gymnasium and additional classrooms comprise the third wing and overlook the football stadium, which is being built in a classic bowl configuration.

“We’re moving to create opportunities for students to learn in different environments, in a variety of different groups doing a variety of activities,” Esteban said. “And that’s very different than putting 30 kids in a box.”

Educational opportunity on-site

Also, for the Sherwood High School project, Skanska USA Building offered a paid project engineer internship this summer.

“Most of our high school (project teams) try to do this if there’s a need and a way to get it done,” Skanska senior project manager Sean Walker said. “We want people who are interested in construction and find value in it and have a potential career in a craft or management or design so we can keep our industry going.”

Grace Gary will be a senior at Sherwood this fall. She’s interested in a possible architecture or engineering career and has been taking applicable classes.

“My teachers recommended that I try this, so I applied,” she said.

From initial applications, eight finalists were chosen and interviewed. Gary was hired for the summer, and finished an eight-week term on Aug. 16. Numerous tasks kept her moving nonstop, she said.

“I’ve been helping the project engineer because he’s normally really busy,” she said. “And I’ve been doing anything anyone needs help with, like spreadsheets. And this week I’m filling in for the lady who normally sits at the front desk. I’ve helped with QA and QC, doing audits of stairwells and rooms to make sure rough-in is complete.”

Skanska likely will look to hire another intern next summer, when other school projects will take place in Sherwood, Walker said.

The experience has been invaluable for Gary, she said.

“I’ve learned so much about the construction process, and I think it’s really interesting to see all the components that go into building something,” she said. “I never really thought about it until now, but at our school we do senior class gifts and it makes me feel like this is my gift to the school.”

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