A Port Alberni school had a chance to take part in a new pilot competition aimed at developing innovative housing solutions.
Teacher Toban Brooks from John Paul II Catholic School in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island organized a Tiny Home elective this year where students from Grade 4 to 7 worked to design and develop a model of a sustainable tiny home using only recycled materials.
On June 10, students shared their completed tiny homes in a design competition for . Micro Housing Macro Impact is planning to host a global design competition every year, open to students 17 years old and younger. But they wanted to start with a small pilot competition, which is where John Paul II came in.
The competition, which took place via videoconferencing, was hosted by John Weisbarth and Zack Giffin, the hosts of the Netflix series Tiny House Nation. Guest judges for the competition included Port Alberni mayor Sharie Minions, Ladysmith mayor Aaron Stone and Squamish councillor Chris Pettingill.
Caleb Knudsen, the winner of the competition, described the experience as 鈥渃razy.鈥� The Grade 6 student said he was inspired by his dad, who also builds houses.
鈥淚 really like looking at what he鈥檚 building,鈥� said Knudsen. 鈥淚t inspired me to try and build my own. When I saw there was an elective to build tiny houses, I thought that would be a good start and I could try learning from that. I didn鈥檛 even know there was going to be a competition and it really surprised me that I won.鈥�
Knudsen built a cardboard model of a home, complete with a sleeping loft stocked with comfy pillows. He said he wanted to build a house that felt 鈥渃omfortable.鈥�
Knudsen鈥檚 prize was a scholarship towards STEM Xposure鈥檚 Global Tiny Home Experience Virtual Summer Camp鈥攁n architectural design and construction camp, where children and teens from around the world will have a chance to design a tiny home that will actually be built. Knudsen said he is planning to attend the camp in the summer.
Eight teams from John Paul II shared their designs with the judges. Minions said she was impressed by how unique the different housing designs were.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really incredible to see these ideas coming from children,鈥� said Minions. 鈥淭o have housing approached from a Grade 4, 5, 6 or 7 student is very different than how I would approach housing or how you would approach housing. I think that鈥檚 a lot of what brings the uniqueness to these designs, is the approach that we鈥檙e coming from.鈥�
Brooks said his students 鈥渁mazed鈥� him with their work.
鈥淭his is such a great chance for these kids to share their ideas, bring them to life,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 giving these kids a chance to go out and bring positive change to the world.
elena.rardon@albernivalleynews.com
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