WoodworkingNetwork reports that students at Ranken Technical College in St. Louis, Missouri, build small modular homes, called Tumbleweed Homes, with a footprint of 100 square feet in their first year in the workshop. The homes are sold and the proceeds are used to buy materials for the next set of homes. This prepares them to build a full-size home in the neighborhood surrounding the college during their second year. “Our students used to build the modular homes, then have to tear them down and most of the materials just had to be thrown in the dumpster,” said Jeff Bosick, carpentry instructor. “With the new Tumbleweed Homes, our students will still learn what they need to learn, but now the finished products will actually be used in a really great way.”
