The Carroll County Building Trades facility consists of a large shop area, a masonry training building, exterior storage buildings and bays, and a modular house site. 

Shop Area:

     - Lab and construction floor space with dust collector system

           Stationary, mobile, and hand tools

           Student trainers:

                   - plumbing trainer that simulates a kitchen, bath, and laundry rooms similar to

                     a ranch house

                   - electrical trainers that simulate a complete house wiring system with both

                     overhead and underground service entrances

                   - roofing trainers that simulate hips, valleys, and vertical wall flashing

     -4 attached rooms:

            One office

            One locker room

            Two tool storage rooms

     -Loft classroom with office area:

             20 student desks

             12 student computer stations

              SMARTboard and LCD projector

              TV with DVD/VCR

              Textbooks - set of 20 NCCER Core Curricular, Carpentry, Plumbing, and Electrical

                                    set of 12 ICC Residential Code books

Masonry Training Building:

     - Inside floor space for masonry training

     - Restroom facilities

     - Exterior foundation simulator - footing with steps

     - Material storage area adjacent to building

Exterior Storage:

     - 2 garage bays

     - 1 separate storage building

Modular House Site:

     - piers for construction of up to a 48' x 26' house

     - yard area for crane and trailer for transportation

     - support poles on each end for safety harness cable

Strengths:

     The Carroll County High School Building Trades Program has three major strengths.  The first is that vocational education is highly supported through the Carroll County Public School System.  In recent years, adequate funding has been available to transform the facilities from a cabinet shop into an effective residential construction training program.  This includes safety training (OSHA certification), equipment (PPE and fall protection), a table saw that will not cut a finger (SawStop), technology, including a Smart Board and 12 individual computer stations with wireless Internet access, and student training simulators for plumbing, electrical and roofing that reflect work on a complete house.  The division is additionally supportive of the continuing education needs of the instructional personnel.

     Secondly, the structure of the high school itself allows for the entire student population of the county to be able to partake in a vocational program.  Carroll County High School is a comprehensive school with academic and vocational programs under the same roof.  This eliminates transportation issues and reduces time constraints on scheduling.  The 4-year college bound student thus is allowed access to vocational programs to broaden his/her horizons and become even more well-rounded as an individual.  Additionally, as the academic level of the class make-up increases. This heightens the academic standards for all enrolled; as peer instruction increases, education flourishes.

     The final strength in the Carroll County Building Trades program is the dual-credit aspect  that allows for a jump start on a post-secondary education and the seamless transition into the Wytheville Community College Construction Technology program.

Weaknesses:

     Carroll County High School is over forty years old.  While the structure is sound and the equipment has been updated and is current, the infrastructure is outdated.  While countywide reconstruction is nearing completion, the upper levels are in the last phase.  Because renovation has been on the horizon for some time, some superficial routine maintenance has been delayed and some work spaces, while functional, are old and worn.   

Plans for Improvement:

     Green and renewable energy education is now becoming a part of the program.  While some training modules have been constructed, and instructor training is ongoing, this is one area of continuing improvement.  Community service is a second area being expanded.  The start of a modular house this October created a partnership between the Building Trades program, and even the high school as a whole, and the Fuller Center for Housing - Greater Carroll County Area.   As students take ownership for projects, community service projects in particular,  they build lifelong character traits.  To continue an environmental and community minded awareness is a major goal of future program development.

Technology has been incorporated into the Building Trades curriculum in several ways. 

1.  Upon examining the results of the NCCER industry certification test results of the Carroll County Building Trades students, it became evident that the math section was the particular area receiving the lowest scores.  With the access to numerous classroom computers and the diversified student abilities, the decision was made to implement a PLATO math training program.  With this addition, there was a direct increase in math scores and overall pass rates for our students for the subsequent test the following year.

2.  The newly installed Smart Board now allows student interaction, full class viewing of information, processes of computer sites, and downloaded demonstrations, in addition to Power Point presentations.

3.  Access to classroom computers allows for students to do individual project research and also to do group web site exploration.  For example, during OSHA training, students walk through the OSHA site to become familiar with the content and to know where and how they can answer their own safety questions in the future. 

4.  A Programable Router has been added to the Building Trades Shop to train students on computer design and production.