High School Students Make Houses For Dogs And Feral Cats In Need

Apr 21, 2019 by apost team

In 2002, Barry Stewart was working as a shop teacher at the Career Center in North Carolina and looking for a simple project that would help his students build real-world skills.

By chance, he ran across the Forsyth County Animal Control’s Houses for Hounds initiative and was struck with an idea: by building housing for animals in need, his students could learn everything they needed to know about construction (just in miniature), while also benefitting their community.

“The framing technique and terminology for pet housing is the same as for a regular house,” Stewart said, “The floor system, wall system, roof system and all the actual parts are identical. So, every part we use on the pet houses, we can reference to the correlating part in the home.”

The project proved a good fit for Stewart’s classes. Today, over 17 years and 600 dog houses, later, Stewart teaches building construction at a Jacksonville, Florida high school and still uses his classes to aid needy animals.

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Local construction and lumber supply stores donate materials, allowing Stewart’s students to build custom housing for dogs and feral cats who would otherwise remain exposed to the elements, while also learning valuable lessons about tailoring homes to their intended occupants.

Originally, Stewart’s students produced cruder structures, but the project evolved, over time. Now, dog houses get built with the entrances shifted well off-center, to protect the dogs from any potential wind or rain.

Roof tiles are layered to better insulate the structures. Feral cat houses come with removable roofs, allowing caretakers to clean the spaces more easily while also gaining better access to kittens who may need medical care.

“Each year, there are always a few students in the class that are passionate about pets and put a little extra effort into it,” Stewart said. “They want everything to fit perfectly and spend a lot of time and care on what they’re doing,”

Completed houses are then donated to Friends of Jacksonville Animals, inc., who work with the city’s animal control officers to determine which community members have the greatest need for better pet housing.

As the organization wrote, regarding Stewart and his students, “The animals that get to sleep in a warm, dry house are particularly thankful for you!”

What do you think of Stewart’s teaching methods and pet housing efforts? Leave us a comment below to let us know and pass this along to your friends and family to celebrate this act of kindness!