Lake Shore High School offers an abundance of unique classes, one of which is his building renovations class. Chris Mazzola teaches the building renovations class at Lake Shore High School. Mazzola introduced students to his house renovation project back in 2011. He purchased a house that his students would be able to remodel and learn how to do things such as painting, tiling, adding trimming, and other skills that he wants to educate his students on.

“It is a house in a subdivision that we have been using as a project house,” Mazzola says.

Mazzola and his students have been working on remodeling a house over the past decade. This is a huge project that takes time. Mazzola estimates the house should be completed and up for sale sometime this summer. This leaves many students wondering what will happen to the house once it is ready and in no need of further renovations.

 “The District will sell it and hopefully use the profits to start another project for our class,” Mazzola explains. 

This project was started to give students the opportunity to learn new skills, and open other possible future opportunities. Students have learned a handful of skills from Mazzola’s house renovation project, perseverance was definitely one of them. It takes hard work and dedication to complete a project as big as this. Mazzola’s house renovation project has truly given students an opportunity that is hard to find, it is unique and informal. This project has also kept students engaged in his class. 

“The main goals were for the students to learn and be able to take the skills with them into the field or into their own homes and remodel their houses. I have many success stories from former students that have used the skills they learned in my classes here at Lake Shore,” says Mazzola.

The house renovation project has given students a new perspective on this field, as well as impacted students by giving them exciting learning experiences. The rest of Lake Shore High school is looking forward to Mazzola’s next big project.