In September 2024, barely a month into their first semester, residential construction technology & management students Nick DeRemer and Jared Wilks joined their peers in Site Preparation & Layout classes to trek from Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Carl Building Technologies Center to an empty lot a few blocks north, where, under the guidance of their instructors, they put their budding knowledge to work to stake out the dimensions of a house.

Two days later, officials gathered on the Fifth Avenue property to officially break ground on the site, marking the beginning of a two-year endeavor between the college and Greater Lycoming Habitat for Humanity to build an efficient, accessible home. The Site Preparation & Layout students were the first of more than 20 classes that would relocate their learning from labs to the site.

The day after groundbreaking, heavy equipment operator technology students dug a footer. The following week, students in the Concrete Construction class poured the footer. By the time the project wrapped up in Spring 2026, the parade of students who gained real-world experience on the project numbered 132.

Serving as the college’s construction supervisor at the site was Garret L. Graff, assistant professor of building construction technology, who said he had often wanted to collaborate with Habitat in a larger capacity. (The college has worked on smaller projects for Habitat since the local affiliate began operating in 1989.) When Ellyn A. Lester was named assistant dean of construction and architectural technologies in 2021, Graff shared his vision with her.

Lester then approached Greater Lycoming Habitat for Humanity, and when she was invited to speak at the organization’s Fall 2021 fundraiser, she initiated a conversation with Habitat Executive Director Duane Hershberger, Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter and Patrick Marty, the college’s chief government and international relations officer.

In 2023, with plans to build a home in the works, the college donated the Fifth Avenue lot to Greater Lycoming Habitat for Humanity. The college had purchased the site in 2015 at the urging of the Lycoming County district attorney and demolished a former tavern that the DA’s office had deemed a “nuisance bar” and shut down. The land, once considered a problem property, was set for transformation.

Besides taking part in the site’s layout, DeRemer, of Cogan Station, and Wilks, of Robbinsville, New Jersey, helped to install and pour an insulated concrete form foundation, pour and finish the concrete floor slab, build and sheathe the exterior walls, build the roof, install shingles, and trim windows and doorways inside the home.

“Being involved in so many stages gave me a better understanding of the full building process and how each part connects to the next,” said DeRemer, who spoke during a ceremony to dedicate the house. “I had the opportunity to work with other students and learn different techniques from our instructors.”

Among them, Wilks described, was building a roof over the home’s side door.

“It required a challenging equation, and I hadn’t practiced the roof framing technique in the lab,” Wilks said. “But Barney (A. Kahn IV, instructor of building construction technology) did a great job of telling us what to do and how to do it, so the roof turned out great.”

Also working through real-world problems were heating, ventilation & air conditioning classes that installed and tuned a heat pump, duct work and an energy recovery ventilator – giving the home its “lungs.”

Electrical construction students wired the home and installed the main electrical panel. Other classes laid the foundation for a side porch; poured a concrete driveway, steps and sidewalk; hung siding; and installed flooring. Before ground was broken, architectural technology students participated by proposing energy-efficient designs for the site. And when the home was dedicated, landscape/plant production technology students assisted officials in planting a crab apple tree, grown from bare root by a Containerized Plant Production class, to symbolize the new roots that will be established by the house’s future residents.

“Although it was sometimes challenging to align the college’s coursework with Habitat’s construction process, it was definitely worth it in the end,” Lester, a driving force for the collaboration, said. “Every moment the students spent on site was valuable, from weather challenges to time shortages, to redoing installations that were problematic. They loved working on a ‘real-world’ project and can be proud to share their experiences with others in years to come when they return for alumni events. The tree we planted will show the passage of time!”

Industry partners worked with classes at the site to share expertise in installing insulated concrete forms, working with a concrete pump to fill the forms, and installing windows.

The project “improved my technical skills, but just as importantly, it strengthened my communication and teamwork skills,” DeRemer said. “On a real jobsite, things don’t always go as planned, and we definitely had moments where we had to stop, rethink and adjust. Working through those challenges with my peers taught me how to problem solve, manage time and stay focused on the end goal.”

“Working on this project was better than working in the lab because we were taught the building techniques in class then had the opportunity to apply them to building the home,” Wilks said. “Everyone who worked on the home could see their efforts in building the home in real time.”

Moving their teaching from the controlled environment of labs to the house called for extra effort from faculty – who were not required to have their classes participate.

“The most challenging part of this building was aligning each phase of construction based on the typical sequencing of classroom instruction,” Graff said. “There was some lag time in some phases, meaning some construction processes needed to finish before others could start. Our instructors bought into the project and worked through those problems quite well. Some instructors flip-flopped instruction to cover topics sooner in the semester to keep the process in motion at the site.”

The college donated “consumable” construction materials that are typically used in the lab – but cannot be reused – such as paint, tile, etc., to the Habitat build, and the General Services department helped with a variety of tasks. Habitat, whose construction supervisors during the project were Penn College residential construction technology & management alumni Andy Hamelly ’07 and Greg Neal ’25, oversaw the construction and arranged for additional services and materials.

Lycoming County commissioners allocated $100,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to help purchase construction materials, and the city allowed use of an adjacent city-owned property for equipment and materials storage.

The project is particularly meaningful as Pennsylvania and much of the nation face a housing shortage. As a result, the cost of rent and homeownership continue to rise. According to the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development – which toured the project as it neared completion – more than 1 million households in Pennsylvania are spending over 30% of their income on housing, and less housing is available for those with low income.

“Housing is one of the main issues that we deal with here in Williamsport, Lycoming County, and across the country,” said Mayor Slaughter, noting that the collaboration among the city, county, college and Habitat will become a blueprint for many communities.

For 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has been at the forefront in providing affordable housing. The Fifth Avenue home is the 60th completed by the nonprofit’s local affiliate.

“That’s 60 families whose lives have been changed and 60 examples of what can happen when a community works together,” said Elizabeth Glunk, the Greater Lycoming Habitat for Humanity board treasurer – who is a 2016 Penn College business administration: banking & finance graduate. She dispelled the misconception that the organization gives homes away.

“Our homeowners put in a tremendous amount of effort to earn this opportunity,” she said. “They spend hundreds of hours working alongside construction volunteers. (The future owners of the Fifth Avenue home will contribute hours on another home build.) They complete financial education and homeowner training. They save for a down payment, and they go on to take on an affordable mortgage. So this isn’t just about building a house. It’s about building something lasting and something that they can be proud of.

“Habitat is focused on creating affordable housing, and Penn College is focused on providing hands-on learning for its students. Together, that partnership created something meaningful for everyone involved.”

DeRemer, who plans to manage construction projects after he completes a bachelor’s degree at the college and eventually own his own business, said the project has given him confidence, real-world experience and a clearer understanding of what it takes to lead and succeed in the industry. But what he is most proud of is the collaboration that yielded the finished product: a three-bedroom home that will provide a new beginning for a hardworking family.

“We didn’t just build a house,” he said. “We built something meaningful as a team.”