About 25 students are currently working on a three-bedroom, two-bath house. Ten to 15 are on site at any one time. While on the job, they all must wear hard hats, safety glasses and heavy boots.

Senior Daniel Norzea says he and his classmates started this house in late October, building it literally from the ground up.

“It was a lot filled with grass, so we had to dig out the grass. We had to level it. Now we got through with the plumbing. We put in the footers - which is the outside area of the house - where we’ll pour the cement so we can wrap up for the summer.”

Nearby, Fladimir Celunice works on a corner of the house, where he is carefully measuring. "They all have to measure up to 12 inches. We’re pouring cement in there, and then it has to be leveled.”

Student Fladimir Celunice checks to make sure his installation is level.

Local contractors donate materials and services to the program. A local architect rendered the final plan for the house, with input from Academy students during the drafting process. In the early stages, Daniel Norzea and a classmate took the rough blueprints to city officials.

“Every aspect we’ve learned from - the engineering aspects, measurements, what works, the building codes, zoning codes," he says. "We really learned a lot.”

About 200 students have come through the Eagle Nest program since it began five years ago. This is the second house academy students have built. It’s being constructed according to green building standards. Many of the materials - like floor boards and concrete blocks - are recycled. Students will install insulated walls, energy efficient appliances and double pane windows.