Lake Shore High School offers a hands-on class for students interested in building trades. Building Renovations is a popular class among upperclassmen that allows students to expand their knowledge of skills that will benefit their future.

Students don’t need much prior knowledge as long as they are willing to work hard. Christopher Mazzola, the veteran Building Renovations teacher, states, “A good work ethic. That’s all you really need. I’ll teach you everything else.” 

Senior, Mitchell Molnar, plans on incorporating the skills he learned in this class into a career later in life. He explains, “I don’t want to go to college. I want to go into a trade school, and our teacher is giving us a lot of opportunities to learn.” 

Another senior in the class, Tyler Michels, had a similar thought to Molnar. He states, “Even if I do not incorporate it into a career, it’s still a life skill.” 

There are many things students have learned in the classroom. Molnar states, “Teamwork is the most important thing I have learned in this class!” Students work as a class to get things accomplished and are willing to help one another out.

Michels talks about the many other skills Mazzola has taught them. Michels explains, “We learned how to do electrical, painting, assembling drywall, hang cabinets, and many other things.” 

Even though this class is fun and enjoyable for students, there are some difficult tasks that many students come across. Mazzola says, “The hardest thing to learn in this class is probably the electrical. It’s hard, but it’s worth it.”

The students in this class are completely renovating a local home in Saint Clair Shores for their big project.

Students started the house project about five years ago and are still currently working on it every day. Mazzola says, “We should be done by Christmas, but that’s if we don’t decide to change anything.Things are changing daily.”

Lake Shore’s building renovations class offers many benefits such as building your work ethic. Molnar explains, “It is a good environment to be in especially when the people around you also want to learn.” At the end of the day this is a class that works hard together. If you are willing to work, this class would be  right for you.