Jefferson Production Academy

Hope you all had a greet week off.

Guess what week it is? That's right. Priming week. We were able to get the house all finished today and started on the garage. We will have the garage finished by the end of Friday. Always tough to get the students on board for any type of painting. But once we got started, they picked it up and got moving. A little messy and some clothes and shoes may have paint on them. But they are getting the job done (reluctantly). We will start the finish coats next week. And get back to finishing the siding weather permitting.

Go Jefferson J-Hawks

The Jefferson Production Academy congratulates Edgar Gonzalez and Daoneill Lopez for winning the Advanced Small Engine Competition at the CEANCI Regional TE&E School Competition that was held at RVC ATC Center this past Friday.

Each team had to find and fix 7 things wrong with the engine and get it running for a minute untouched and with judge moving the throttle back and forth. Our team did this all (taking the engine completely apart and back together replacing broke parts) in just a little over an hour. They did a great job!!

Edgar and Daoneill each won a 3 ton floor jack and a MAC Tool 123 piece screw bit/screw driver set.

Our Beginner Team of Samuel Contreras and Andres Soto did not win their division but won a prize basket from Ford.

Schools that participated are Harlem, Auburn, Byron, Hononegah, and Winnebago.

House update. Students were able to finish the interior of the house today. We still have about half of the garage to finish up. So next week by Tuesday the garage will be finished, then we can get back to work on the siding with the warmer temps. The mud and taping could happen next week but should be finished when we get back from spring break. Meaning we get to move onto prime and paint.

Have great weekend all.

Go J-Hawks.

Good afternoon J-Hawks:

A little house update. Got a good start on the siding while fighting the cold temps. Today our drywall was delivered. Students were thrilled to have to carry(12 FOOT SHEETS) all in from the driveway(windy cold temps) to inside the garage and house. Got it all in and set up to start hanging. We even got our first sheet up. We got our HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and structural inspections completed last week. All passed with one miner electrical fix. The insulation got blown in yesterday. We will be drywalling for a while and do siding on warmer days.

Today, we were presented with an award for being the 2025 volunteer of the year for Habitat for humanity. So, that was a nice surprise to end the week. I believe it is well deserved for the students. Both past and present. And to all who have helped out.

Today we also got our first taste of drywall. Students did well as we had to have the utility room done in one day because on Monday our furnace will start to be put in.

Next week, weather permitting, we will start the siding process as it was delivered today as well.

Hey J-Hawks. Hope everyone had a great break. It was a 6 window and 3 door install kind of day. Good productive day for sure. Yesterday, was a not so fun day of moving lots of snow around the whole house so we could install today. Luckily students actually wanted to shovel. They got to play in the snow. Yesterday we also got all the hurricane ties installed as well. Mother nature is for sure playing havoc on getting things done. Snow and now very cold temps are coming in. We have a roof (sheathing) but no shingles yet. Going to be hard to get that done anytime soon which puts a damper on the interior as water drips in through all the cracks. We are getting closer to getting it closed in. Hopefully soon.

Congratulations to the October Student of the Month - Marco Puckett!

Student Advisory Board meeting for today has been cancelled.

We have the house Styrofoam and Tyvek wrapped. We are ready for ceiling trusses. We are also ready to start window and door prep. Once those are installed, we will start the siding. Ya, can't wait, should be nice and cold by then.

Have a great day J-Hawks.

Dress like a teacher day at Jefferson. Student Rosas did a really solid impression of Mr. Rutlin. Don't worry. If it's broken we can still fix it.

House is moving right along finally. Last Tuesday we finished up the v***r barrier and metal mesh for the floor. On Wednesday the cement floor got poured. Thursday, we started putting up exterior and interior walls. Today, we completed all exterior walls and interior walls. What a busy last four days on the site. Four days putting up all the walls is a record for us. It has been busy. The students really stepped up these last four days putting in the work. Can't thank them enough. A lot of heavy walls to move around. We also had some help from Habitat volunteers that helped us out. A lot. We also got the walls square and plumb today as well. Technically we are ready for the trusses. Still, some work to finish up inside. But we will start house wrap and Styrofoam insulation on the exterior soon.

Have a great week J-Hawks.

Go J-Hawks.

House update.

The most physically demanding day this year occurred today. We leveled the gravel in the house for cement to be poured.
Give the students big credits today as we moved a ton of gravel. Made sure the depth was 4" throughout the whole house. Got all the v***r barrier laid down and the metal mesh laid down as well. Today was a very good day. The students put in the work. We get inspected on Monday for this work, then the cement gets poured on Tuesday and we start putting up walls on Wednesday. It will soon start to look like a house.

Go J-Hawks