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Sawdust filled the air as Adrian Solis brought the blade of a miter saw down to trim a piece of siding.
Solis and his classmate Joel Cornejo were at work Monday afternoon on a chicken coop, putting on finishing touches in hopes of selling it to house backyard poultry.
It’s one of the projects for the new Build Club, an after school program for residential construction students at the Career Technical Education Center in north Salem.
“It’s hands-on experience and more finer details,” said Solis, a junior at South Salem High School.
The residential construction program offers Salem-Keizer School District juniors and seniors the opportunity to learn a trade and practice through real-world projects, including building a family home as seniors.
The program’s instructional assistant, Matt Marshall, started Build Club in the fall to give students practice with a wider range of projects, as well as business experience.
“I wanted to treat it like a job shop so they could see what’s expected of them in the real world. They have jobs to complete, they have to work as a team,” he said.
About a dozen students joined when the club launched.
They craft items including birdhouses, deck chairs, planter boxes, dog houses and benches — “a little bit of everything,” Cornejo said.
Many sold at CTEC’s winter bazaar, a holiday shopping expo showcasing talents from the center’s 10 high school vocational programs.

Now, Marshall takes custom orders via email and sells student-built items on Facebook marketplace. Money covers the cost of materials, and students split the remaining profit.
“I like to see it go out the door, people enjoy it,” said senior Isabella Solis, who is Adrian Solis’ older sister.
In addition to building, students get practice handling customers. Isabella Solis recently fielded a call from an angry customer and was able to talk her down and finish her customer furniture order.
Students got a $125 paycheck after the holiday bazaar, which Isabella Solis used to buy some Christmas presents for family.
“It felt good to get something, it doesn’t feel like work really because you’re with people,” she said.

The program recently got a $1,000 boost from the Maps Community Foundation, the charitable arm of the Salem-based credit union, to buy raw materials. Maps selected it as one of 54 teacher projects for a grant in December.
Construction teacher Curtis Fisher applied for the money without telling anyone and said he forgot about it until Maps employees showed up with a check to present.
Fisher said the program is helpful for students who might not be able to work outside of school because of transportation or other challenges, and said the environment gives them more one-on-one help and experience woodworking.
“It’s different construction than we do in the shop,” he said.
Marshall said he hopes to get more commissions and improve marketing for the club so people can order items more easily. For now, he said people who want to buy a student-built piece or commission something can contact him at [email protected].

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.