Some Danville High School Construction Trades students are playing a key role in what’s being called ‘Operation Refresh Friendly Town”. The students were busy Wednesday working on the new ‘District 118 Friendly School’ at the Friendly Town Traffic Safety Education Center at Lincoln Park.
Daniel Hile, Chair of the Career and Tech Education Department at Danville High School, said GeoCON (Geometry and Construction) class students were those involved in the build…
Audio Player{AUDIO: “The class that we’ve had for several years at D. H. S., Geometry – Math class taught in a construction lab, double-block every day. It’s our first off-site build. In addition you have some of our students who are former GeoCON students that are now Advanced Buildings Trades kids, and they’re acting more as kind of like the foreman of this operation.”}
Although the new school started going up Tuesday at Lincoln Park, Hile noted the students have been working on the project for weeks…
Audio Player{AUDIO: “So we are fortunate enough with the size that we have, and the lab space that we were able to build the walls – frame the walls up, sheet it. They did all the exterior painting that you see. And so then they took the building apart late last week. We loaded it up on a flatbed truck and trailer – thanks to Owen’s Excavating. They provided us the transportation to bring everything over here.”}
Madison Barnes, a 14-year-old freshman at Danville High School, enjoyed doing some of the painting of the school….
{AUDIO: “It’s a big group. All the supports good. Everybody just has their own job that they do. Everything just comes out good in the end.”}
Sixteen-year-old Gabrielle Rule was helping with putting up shingles….
Audio Player{AUDIO: “I think this project is very exciting. It’s a very fun project. The fact that we get to come out here and do stuff like this – it’s very neat and fun.”}
(Volunteers from Schomburg and Schomburg Construction of Danville work on one of the buildings Wednesday.)
The miniature school is just one of several buildings being renovated or replaced at the Friendly Town Traffic Safety Education Center. Danville Police Chief Christopher Yates notes Friendly Town has been around for over fifty years….
Audio Player{AUDIO: “It started in 1968 – the idea – and was brought to reality in 1970. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to give it a facelift to where it looks like what it did in 1968, and maybe even a little better with the support we got from our community. And it wouldn’t be done if it wasn’t for that support. There’s going to be quite a few people working on it.”}
Volunteers will be working on the buildings this weekend (May 4th and 5th, 2024) but some of the work is already underway.
GeoCON Chairman Daniel Hile expressed pride as he watched his students working at Friendly Town Wednesday. “You can’t see the goose bumps on my arms right now,’’ said Hile, ‘’but this has been a long-time coming.’’ He added a lot of work has been done at Danville High to improve the Career and Tech Ed Department. “And a lot of obstacles had to be navigated because of the pandemic.”
News story here.
