College students build school addition

Olney-Bissell School is growing by approximately 1,000 feet.

The extra square footage is a building that will house a 30-by-20-foot multipurpose room and three 10-by-10-foot rooms for office space or storage.

The building, detached from the school, is on the southwest side of the main building, adjacent to the school library. 

This added space will be a welcome relief to instructors who are slated to use the building to teach art, music, band and science said Olney-Bissell Principal Lona Everett.

“Right now music is in the gym, band is in the library and art is in the gym or in a classroom,” Everett said, noting that scheduling will be easier.

Everett, who doubles as a music and band teacher, pointed to band instruments crowding the corners of her office.

“I’m forever carrying instruments and stands from room to room,” Everett said. “Finally we will have a designated space for [classes such as] art and science — possibly a computer lab.”

Everett said enrollment at the school has grown over the past decade to its current 85 kindergarten through eighth-grade students. The school has six classrooms.

“As we grow, we find space limited,” Everett said. “We’ve been planning what we would do if we possibly grew about five years ago, but haven’t acted on it because of funding until now.”

What is unique about this particular project is that Flathead Valley Community College’s Building Trades students are doing the construction for this school-to-school collaboration. 

Initially, Olney-Bissell teacher Bob Driggers presented the idea to Everett after taking classes from Greg Waldrop, Building Trades Apprentice Program Coordinator and instructor. Everett thought it was a great idea.

“We were looking for a way to build without going for a bond,” Everett said. 

Olney-Bissell School will pay for materials, fees and permits while the Building Trades program will provide labor. Everett estimates the cost at roughly $35,000. 

“We couldn’t pass this up,” Everett said.

The school recently received a $2,000 grant from TeleTech to purchase supplies and equipment for the new building.

This is the first construction project at a school for the college building program. Usually, students build residential homes. Waldrop works alongside five to six students five days a week at the site.

“It’s on-the-job training,” Waldrop said. “This is the type of work they’ll be doing out on the field.”

With all four walls of the building up, Waldrop estimates the structure will be enclosed and weatherproofed by Thanksgiving. After winter, they will return to complete the building by late spring. 

Everett said having construction going on during the school year is a learning experience for students.

“Greg is always willing to stop what he’s doing to talk to the kids about what’s going on. It’s an educational experience for kids watching the building being built from the ground up,” Everett said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.