There have been many interested, talented, and generous people and companies involved with donating time, expertise, teaching, and materials for this program. Below is a list of hopefully all who have or will be a part of this worthy cause. Our regrets if we have mistakenly missed recognizing a contributor (please e-mail us about our oversight):
From Seminole Ridge:
- Rick Terkovich – Construction Academy director and instructor; co-founder of the home building program with Habitat (retiring in June of 2023)
- Todd Williams – Construction Academy instructor (taking over the reigns from Mr. Terkovich)
- Tammy Licavoli – Career Academies coordinator
- Manuel Moya – Photography instructor who is working with his photography and videography students to document the creation and transformation of this house becoming a home.
- Robert Hatcher – principal who fully supports and encourages the Academy.
From the School District’s Choice Department:
- Jim Politis – Manager of Choice Programs for Industrial Arts and Construction Academies
From Royal Palm Beach High School:
- Patrick Raney – Air Conditioning Academy instructor
Habitat for Humanity of Palm Beach County:
- Jennifer Thomason – CEO
- Josh Burrell – Director of Construction for Habitat; helps manage the ordering of materials, quality control, the move process, and having the after-installation work completed.
Architect:
- David Porter AIA – co-founder of the program; works with the students on design, understanding drawings, building codes, and with the construction process. He prepared the design drawings and renderings and then completed the construction drawings. He worked with Habitat and with the building department to meet their specific requirements. He has helped organize and manage the whole development process and has prepared and maintains this website about the project. (www.porterarchitects.com)
Construction Trades:
- Simpson Strong Tie (Ed Groblewski) – Quik Drive representative; Ed has taught the students how to use the Simpson Quik drive drills and screws for the plywood floor sheathing; Simpson has donated all of the metal connectors for this house and all previous houses built by the Academy (www.strongtie.com).
- Grace Construction Products – donated the Vycor®enV-S™ self-adhering building wrap for sealing the exterior walls and the Vycor® Plus flashing to seal all doors and window to the building wrap, in addition to providing installation training to the students.
- Applegate Interiors – provides tools and instructional assistance to students for applying the knockdown finish to the drywall.
- IEC (Independent Electrical Contractors) & Brown Electrical Solutions- provides mentoring of the students on the electrical work in the house and will then complete the electrical installation of the house once at the property.
- Carpenter Electric – donated electrical equipment and wiring for the house
- Weitz Construction Company is the mentor construction company for the overall Academy. Weitz also pulls together the “moving team” to allow the project to see its completion with loading, shipping, and installation of the modular units and roof sections at the property.
- American Engineering and Development & All Florida Transport – donates tractor-trailers, drivers, and escort vehicles for the two-day move and installation process.
- Priority Towing – donates trucks, trailers and drivers to transport the house components to the site. Without their efforts, the house remains a fixture in the school’s shop.
- EAGLE METAL PRODUCTS, INC. (Lester Hensley) – donated welded steel shipping plates to assist with the loading and transportation safety
- DC Crane & Rigging – has donated a crane and operator for the two days it takes to move and install the house.
- Dixie Blueprint – donates all of the prints of the construction drawings needed for the permit, construction by the students, and construction by Habitat.
- Bruce Tschosik – donates his time and effort to prepare the necessary Florida Energy Code calculations and documents required to prove to the building department that the house as designed & built meets the minimum Code requirements for energy use.
- University of South Florida OSHA Training Institute and Education Center – USFOTI is a proud partner of the Academy, offering OSHA construction training and certification to the students (www.usfoticenter.org). Graduating seniors leave school with both a 10-hour OSHA Certification as well as a 30-hour OSHA Certification. USFOTI comes to the school each year to also teach the OSHA 7405 “Fall Hazard Awareness for the Construction Industry” course to the Academy students.
- Construction Association of South Florida – Generous donation of tools for the Academy’s construction of the homes
- General Plumbing – donated plumbing supplies and mentors to train the students in the plumbing installation work
- Stokes Mechanical – donated plumbing supplies
- BOAF (Building Officials of Florida) – strong supporter of the program. Donated funds and sent representatives to assist with the construction training
- Moore’s ACE Hardware – donated the interior paint for the current house
Important non-Construction related Contributors:
- Winn Dixie Supermarkets – cash donation toward the home building construction program; plans to stock the pantry and refrigerator of the house prior to owner move-in
- U and Me Moving and Storage – provides a secure, overnight, storage lot in West Palm Beach for holding the tractor-trailers containing the house components for the following day’s installation for houses on West Palm Beach properties
Building Inspections:
- Palm Beach County Building Department – plan review, issuing the building permit, and inspections of the modular units while at the school (for houses located within unincorporated Palm Beach County). The chief inspectors are being sent to the school for inspections to help teach the students about building to the Code, the inspection process, and how to interface with building departments and inspectors.
- City of West Palm Beach Building Department – plan review, issuing the building permit, and inspections of the modular units while at the school (for houses located within the city of West Palm Beach). The chief inspectors are being sent to the school for inspections to help teach the students about building to the Code, the inspection process, and how to interface with building departments and inspectors.
- City of Belle Glade Building Department – plan reviews, permit issuance, cooperative relationship allowing the architect to inspect the project while at the school, and their inspections of all construction work done at the site
- Lake Worth Building Department – this department provides its assistance when a house is chosen by Habitat to be located within the city of Lake Worth. They then provide all inspections at the property and of the final installation of the installed modules and roof sections.
- David Porter AIA – Architect – provides municipality-approved inspections of the construction that occurs at the school when acceptable to the site location municipality.
There have been others who have provided mentoring and/or materials for this venture who we may have mistakenly not listed. Please e-mail us about our oversight so that our appreciation can be rightfully posted here.
The Program Founders
David Porter – Architect (left) & Rick Terkovich – Teacher (Right)