Fairfield High School senior super-sizes class project

Fairfield High School senior David Kline was given an assignment in his civil engineering class but then decided to super-size it.

The result now stands tall in his classroom, and it will become a unique, student-constructed learning tool for future classes.

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Kline was supposed to build a tiny model of a portion of a house wall but instead amped it up in scale and details to a nearly seven foot high and six-foot long section of housing.

He built in roofing shingles, flooring, a window, insulation, siding and even electrical wiring and lighting.

Kline then mounted his project on a platform on wheels so it could be moved around the classroom or to other classes in the Butler County high school.

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Chad Reed, teacher of the civil engineering and architect class, has never seen a student build such project.

“He did this all on his own — about 95 percent of it,” said Reed. “He was a real go-getter on this project. He planned it all out and worked many hours for many months.”

The house wall replica was completed last month, funded almost entirely through the class, which is a satellite program of Butler Tech.

“He is one of the best motivated students I’ve had, said Reed. “He is very disciplined and enjoys being around hand tools and machines, inventing and constructing things.”

“I was able to turn him loose, and he was able to create some really cool things,” said Reed.

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David said it was a labor of love.

“I’ve done something similar for humanitarian projects. It was really fun,” said the senior.

The project is not only a part of David’s personal legacy in the class but will be used to instruct future students, said Reed.

“I enjoy helping other people and watching them develop their skills,” said David, who is considering a career in automotive or electrical engineering.

Reed said future students will benefit in a more tactile instructional way other than learning from textbooks or computer-assisted learning.

“It’s great because they will be able to see an example of something somebody else built. And it can also help motivate them on what sort of unique project they may want to do,” said Reed.

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