Students in Mike McCracken's Cabinetry/Millworking class were able to get hands-on experience and help a good cause this semester by building cabinets to be installed in a Habitat for Humanity house.

"The students went to the house where the cabinets were to be installed, measured the area, researched two sources of materials and prepared a bid as a classroom project," McCracken said. The students factored labor and materials into the bid for on-the-job training.

Habitat paid for the materials and the labor was free. The two custom-built bathroom vanities are worth about $1,000 retail, but the Cabinetry students were able to bring the project in for $318.

Student Andrall Johnson may have won the bid, but would have lost money if it were an actual job. "I didn't know it would take so long to build," she said.

"We can make the cabinets better than the store-bought ones," said student Sal Scarano. "We use high-quality wood and the labor is free."

The six students are in the third of four classes in the cabinetry curriculum. According to McCracken, it was an excellent time to start a project like this. "We hope to be able to continue to work with Habitat for Humanity and maybe try our hand at building some counters and cabinets for a kitchen," he said.

This article first appeared in A-B Tech's Tech Talk newsletter, April 2009.

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