There has never been a day when the depth of this school was fully uncovered. The community gets to witness athletic victories and read about individual success stories but everyday there are dozens of reports left uncovered. For example, the Skills Trade and Apprenticeship Program. Peninsula students and staff might be aware of this course, but what hasn’t been publicized is the project that lies in the back garage.

Eric Morton is the teacher that manages the fifteen students that make up this class. He is also one of forty individuals that are a part of a Trades Council that oversee the program. At the beginning of the year, this council was approached by the Gig Harbor Rotary Club who offered to provide the class with almost $4,000 in materials to build a shelter for the Low Income Housing Institute of Seattle (LIHI). This organization “develops, owns and operates housing for the benefit of low-income, homeless and formerly homeless people in Washington State” which is where Peninsula steps into the picture (lihi.org). This group of seahawks have accepted the task of constructing an 8x12ft ‘Tiny House’. This project will take the students until June to complete, so until then, all fifteen of them will work tirelessly day after day to build a home for someone in need. Although the structure requires an extensive amount of labor, the students have no complaints about the time that they spend in the shop. Senior, Sage Buff, shared that the class is “a lot more fulfilling than sitting in the classroom.” His classmate, Austin Lyon, agreed with Sage and continued to describe how he appreciates the style of the program.

The skills trade classes allows Austin to work with his hands and step away from the routine of a traditional classroom. Sage also said that “Morton makes the class worth learning from- I would encourage everyone to do this class.” Not only are Peninsula Seahawks given the opportunity to learn a trade, but in the process they are changing lives. There are thousands of homeless people living in Seattle but because of this class, that number will go down. It might not change the dynamic of the entire city, but it will completely transform at least one life.