The contractor for the Cowlitz Indian Tribe La Center-area casino project is working to bridge the gap with the community by building a wall.
A climbing wall, that is.
San Francisco-based general contractor Swinerton Builders pledged $80,000 to La Center High School to help build a climbing wall on the school grounds. Representatives from the company are also teaching an after-school class to a group of students who are tasked with making decisions on the design, placement and development of the wall. Students, meanwhile, are trying to raise another $20,000 to help build the wall.
Brian Zylstra, a German teacher at the school who is facilitating the class, said students are learning technical details, including about materials and how to select a site for a building project. Then they’re learning soft skills, including how to work as a team to compromise on design.
“They’re learning that you’ve got your money, then you’ve got your dreams,” Zylstra said.
Sometimes that leads to heated debates in the classroom.
“There are a whole lot of factors to take into account,” junior Robert Balduc said. “What look do you have in mind? What do you want from it?”
At a recent meeting, students discussed whether or not to put covering on the climbing wall, whether to go for a manufactured look or a more natural effect, or whether to buy prefabricated materials or wood.
“This is exactly what happens,” said Chris Evans, a senior project manager with Swinerton Builders. “There’s a compromise between the value systems.”
Cam Coleman, another project manager at Swinerton Builders, said the students are asking questions like a city government does before a significant project.
“The kids are right in line with what is posed in every other forum,” Coleman said.
Both Swinerton representatives say the company tries to do a similar project in every city it builds in. It’s a way to give back, Evans said.
“We’re trying to find a positive way to work with the community,” Evans said.
Social science teacher Shawn Link, who developed La Center High School’s unique challenge course, said she isn’t surprised by the students’ enthusiasm. Link is co-teaching the class with Zylstra and said this is typical when students feel they have a voice.
“You get 110 percent,” she said.
And students echo that sentiment.
Freshman Kalyn Flatt has always wanted to be an architect. She’s been excited to learn the steps and processes that go into building something.
Flatt can’t wait to see the looks on students’ faces when they see the finished project, slated for completion early next summer.
“It’s going to feel really good,” Flatt said. “You helped make them happy.”
Jaryd Parmentier, a junior, agreed.
“It’s about the ownership of it,” he said.
