Maple Grove Senior High School’s interior design students take learning to the job site

Looking their best in yellow safety gear, students in Maple Grove Senior High School (MGSH)’s Interior Design 3 class took their learning to the job site with a recent tour of the school’s ongoing Building a Better Future renovation and addition project.

Students explored all three levels of the new addition during the tour. They saw spaces at different stages, from framing on the main level to painting and finishing work on the top floor. During the visit, they talked with the senior project manager, Beth Winderfeld of ICS, about the building process and connected what they are learning in class to real spaces coming to life in their school.

In this third design course, students focus on how spaces work, how people move through them and how design choices impact function. They also use CAD programs like Chief Architect and Revit to create digital plans. Tanya Drake, the district’s college and career readiness lead, said seeing plans come to life on a job site helps students better understand how classroom learning connects to real projects.

“This kind of hands on, minds on experience is what makes Career and Technical Education classes stand out,” said Drake. “Students are able to see how their learning connects to real careers and begin to picture their future. Students in this class share an interest in careers such as interior design, architecture and construction management.”

More information about CTE programs can be found on the district's CTE page. For additional information about Building a Better Future projects, visit osseoschools.org/betterfuture.