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Portland Scholarship Program Incorporates ‘Building Homes of Our Own’

The Metro Portland Housing Industry Foundation, the charitable arm of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland in Oregon (HBAMP), is taking an innovative approach to promoting education in the local community with the development of a scholarship program that incorporates NAHB’s “Building Homes of Our Own.”

The association is using NAHB’s interactive, computer-based program to familiarize students with the challenges involved in building a home, while qualifying them to compete for a $2,000 scholarship.

Part of NAHB’s ongoing educational outreach initiative, “Building Homes of Our Own” is a CD-ROM-based educational tool that challenges students to work against a schedule and within a budget to design and build a 3-D home, starting with selection of a site and ending with the sale of the home. In the process, students rely on core classroom subjects including math, social studies and economics as they work to collect information, solve problems and make decisions.

“We wanted to put together a program that built on the wonderful creativity and interactive capabilities of NAHB's CD-ROM game,” said Dave Nielsen, CEO of the Portland association. “Our staff did a great job in building a complete scholarship program that uses the game, and also incorporates hands-on experience into the application process. The potential for students to really get their feet wet in learning about the construction industry is fantastic, and the response from students and teachers has exceeded our expectations.”

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Working with a teacher sponsor, students competing for the scholarship are required to complete the “Building Homes of Our Own” program with a score of 70 or better, and forward their score pages with a transcript indicating a minimum grade point average of 2.5. Qualifying students then move on to the final round of the competition, consisting of an essay on one of two selected topics, along with a minimum 16-hour commitment to a Habitat for Humanity project in the Portland area.

All applicants have to complete their essays and volunteer projects by March 1. Winners will be announced at the annual Metro Portland Housing Industry Foundation benefit dinner in April, where the top 10 finalists will receive $100 savings bonds. The top two finalists — one in each essay topic area — each will receive a $1,000 scholarship check, and the grand prize winner will receive an additional $1,000.

“My students learned a tremendous amount about the home building process, experienced a great deal of frustration along the way and then enjoyed the satisfaction of building and selling a home and even making a profit,” said Portland area teacher Michelle Buczynski. “As a teacher, I found ‘Building Homes of Our Own’ to be an excellent simulation and I plan to include it as part of my curriculum in the future,” she added

NAHB members and educators can learn more and order a complimentary copy of the CD-ROM by clicking here.

Building Homes of Our Own is partially funded by the National Housing Endowment and Freddie Mac. The program has the support of the National Association of Elementary School Principals and earned a 2002 International EMMA (Electronic Multimedia Award), which recognizes excellence in digital media content creation.

The program also won the 2003 Bronze Anvil for best interactive CD-ROM from the Public Relations Society of America.
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