Building Pole Barns Raises Student Success

摘要

POLE barns dot the landscape throughout the Logan Elm Local School District, which covers a 200-square-mile area in Ohio's Pickaway, Ross, and Hocking counties. Farming remains an integral part of this rural district, whose main campus is about 30 miles south of Columbus, the state capital, so the prevalence of pole barns is not uncommon. Since 2009, more than 15 pole barns have been built by district high school students working roughly 90 minutes a day at a different site each semester. The students are in Gary Mitchel's Construction Technology class, which introduces them to carpentry and electrical. It is a satellite program of Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center in Chillicothe, and serves as a pipeline to the career center's programs for juniors and seniors.