Local elementary and high school students team up for hands-on construction tech learning

For three consecutive school days, the Grant Career Center has welcomed local elementary school students to get a taste of what construction work looks like.

On Monday, fourth-grade students from Williamsburg spent the first part of their morning in a math class, studying angles and fractions before they touched any tools.

As they finished their lessons and lunch, construction technology instructor Kenny Carter gathered his high schoolers to prepare to lead the young kids as foremen and project leads.

Students handle it all; they even give the safety brief and everything," Carter said.

Then, dozens of fourth graders joined their high school counterparts and got to work.

Watch to see how The Big Build helps teach students hands-on skills and collaboration:

Basically, they're learning how to use a tape measure, theyre learning how to use a saw, all regular stuff that a regular homeowner would have," Carter said.

The students worked together, tape measures and drills in hand, to construct a small wooden structure with a base and four walls.

As theyre going along, our students are teaching the knowledge of what the building is, what each stud is, the anatomy of what a building may be," Carter said.

The exercise continued, and Carter said it was all about fun and learning, as long as safety remained the No. 1 priority.

The biggest thing what I see with some of these young people is that a lot of them are afraid to make a mistake. If they cut a board wrong, I got more lumber. You know, and I tell them, its ok to make mistakes as long as you learn from that," Carter said.