Students at Pickens Technical College are learning from more than textbooks. Several programs, including carpentry, electrical occupations and cabinetmaking, have recently finished building a single family home from the ground up.

The construction contractor for the project Greg Shamburg knows first-hand the value of the Pickens house project. Shamburg was once a student in Pickens Carpentry program. "The hands-on, tangible experience that the students receive as part of building a home is much more valuable than just training in a lab environment," Shamburg said.

This is not the first home built by Pickens' students. Students in the program have built and sold 50 homes in Aurora. Proceeds from the sale of the homes go back into the program for the next project