“Kids get really hungry for being able to answer that age-old question in math of ‘When am I ever going to need to know how to use this?’” Burke said. Geometry in Construction provides an answer.
Geometry in Construction was first offered in 2006 by Scott Burke, an industrial technology teacher, and Tom Moore, a math teacher, at Loveland High School in Loveland, Colorado. A cohort of 80 students built a 640-square-foot home, which now sits in the mountains outside of Woodland Park, Colorado.
Since then, the curriculum has gained momentum. Currently, there isn’t a comprehensive study that shows whether the students have higher test scores compared to their peers in a regular class. But a small internal study within a few Colorado high schools showed these students had higher than average math scores.
Geometry in Construction is also exposing students to trade skills — a sector with a dearth of workers in the U.S.
Seventy percent of construction companies are struggling to find qualified workers. And skilled trades, which includes welders, carpenters, electricians, mechanics and plumbers, have been the hardest to fill since 2010. And the jobs pay well. There are over 30 million jobs that pay an average of $55,000 a year and don’t require a bachelor’s degree.
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