Students learn painting, staining and how to finish drywall. It is helpful for students to have basic math skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Students may take Finish or Rough Carpentry as their first year of the program. The main hands-on activity each year is the actual construction of a house. Activities include house framing, roofing, siding and stair building.
Students also learn to safely operate hand and power tools.
There is some work on plan and blueprint reading and learning the meaning of symbols and building specifications. Students may enter as Rough or Finish Carpentry as their first year of the program. This includes items such as advertisements, calendars, posters, brochures, greeting cards, T-Shirts, package design, menus, etc. Illustrations for the art work can be produced by drawing by hand or by computer. Students learn computer graphics and other technical processes used in Commercial Art and printing.