How a tiny home fits into a controversial Summit Schools tax question 

Today we are IN THE CLASSROOM with Summit High School co-principal Doug Blake, talking about the bond

“Each of the pathways that are identified within this bond project? This is the future of learning,” Blake says. We caught up with him two weeks ago when students unveiled the first-ever SHS Tiny Home, a project from the Careers in Construction course at Summit High. 

“This program is what we want to start replicating all over the board with health sciences, with natural resources and sustainability, with business and entrepreneurship,” Blake says. 

But the SHS Tiny Home is unique. It was propped up from the outside with money by non-profits, like the Summit Foundation, and local partners, like Summit County Builders Association. 

“A year and a half later and we’ve had all hands on deck,” Blake says. “Our community is 100-percent engaged in this. (We had) industry experts coming in, lending a hand.” 

Other programs do not have that kind of support yet. But Blake is confident it can happen. 

“Inside of our school, it’s got to come outside,” he says, waving a hand at the Tiny Home on its trailer behind the school. “We got to bring the outside community inside, and it’s really a (convergence) at the intersection of the future of learning.” 

The school board is drafting its bond now. Members say they need this taxpayer money for facilities, safety, and teachers.  

A bond might even help the district pay more. The school board and teachers’ union are deadlocked on wage negotiations.  

Thanks for going IN THE CLASSROOM from Heavenly Times Hot Tubs and Billiards and The Summit Foundation Bright Futures Fund.