Victoria Turner has a compelling argument for why she gets the master bedroom, and it’s difficult to counter. “It’s only fair,” she told The Colorado Springs Gazette. “I mean, I helped build the house.”
Turner spent three years of high school working on a 1,200-square-foot modular home as part of Liberty High School’s building and construction class, run through Academy School District 20’s career and technical education program in Colorado Springs. Nearly 100 students worked on the house during that time. Under the supervision of working tradespeople, the students completed the overwhelming majority of the labor themselves.
“We have the kids do as much of the work as possible,” said Jaime Hernandez, the school’s building and construction teacher. “It’s the best way to get them workforce-ready.”
Turner had wanted this since she was 7 or 8 years old, when she decided she wanted to do what her older brother did. “Four years ago, when I realized I could be part of a class where we build a house, I thought it’d be a good idea,” she told People. “So I applied.”
A house like this usually takes the program about two years to build. This one took closer to three, slowed by instructor turnover and COVID-19, which meant Turner graduated in May 2023 before it was finished.
Then she heard Hernandez mention that someone was interested in buying it and joked to her friends about how funny it would be if her own mother were the buyer. It would be the biggest take-home project ever, as she put it.
Her mother, a teacher, actually was interested. She wanted to support the program, and the money from the sale goes directly back into it to fund the next build. In December 2023, at a ceremony at Liberty High School six months after her graduation, Turner was handed the keys to the house she’d spent three years working on. It was moved onto her parents’ property, where she now lives with her twin sister.
The program did more than hand her a place to live. Students often graduate with OSHA certifications, and Turner walked out of high school and into a job at a local roofing company. She’s frequently the only woman on a job site. “One of my co-workers who has been working in roofing for 30 years told me I’m only the second female he’s seen do this,” she said. “That’s pretty cool.”
She’d like that to change and sees value in being the person who went first. “Being a female in construction is a great pathway,” she added. “Changing the workforce would be great for changing the world for the future.”
Her father sees the program itself as the point. “I think it’s wonderful that District 20 allows this opportunity for people that don’t want to go on to college, to have an opportunity to maybe get some trade experience to actually make a living,” he said.
For Turner, the practical benefits started immediately. She doesn’t pay rent. And she has a level of familiarity with the house that most homeowners never get.
“I like that I know exactly where the beams are if I want to hang stuff up,” she told KRDO-TV.
