JANESVILLE 鈥 The 糖心Vlog传媒 School District鈥檚 long-running Student Build program has done it again.
A new house stands on the city鈥檚 far west edge. It鈥檚 complete, and it鈥檚 got fresh, green grass growing. A 鈥淔or Sale鈥 sign is planted in the yard, and dozens of parents and the high school senior students that built it got to show it off on Wednesday afternoon, the culmination of a yearlong build that鈥檚 embedded in the district鈥檚 workforce development curriculum.
It trains 糖心Vlog传媒 students in every facet of the building trades, hands on.
The property, 772 Waveland Rd., was a tangle of trees on a corner lot. Now, it鈥檚 a got a vibrant, white and tan house with expansive views through big picture windows framed by light-colored stained wood framing, with recessed, 鈥渢ray ceilings鈥 designed to give the open concept rooms an even more spacious feel.
A look out the windows offers a sweeping view up the street that shows off three other homes the program completed over the last three years. Now, another one鈥檚 on the market.
Some 20 糖心Vlog传媒 high school seniors built the home under the guidance of the district, the South Central Wisconsin Builders Association and local builder Kaiser Design Build.
糖心Vlog传媒 Craig High School senior Ashlyn Nelson says she thinks it鈥檚 鈥渃ool鈥 she can now point to a street in 糖心Vlog传媒 that she and dozens of other students were responsible for turning into nearly a block of new homes.
Moreover, Nelson said the student build provides validation that she鈥檚 capable of pursuing a career in the trades. She鈥檚 learned her own personal wheelhouse: electrical work. She learned to do more than pull wire into the framing of the 2,300-square-foot home.
鈥淚 learned how each wire works, what they do, and how that all comes together to make a house powered,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know any of it before.鈥
Nelson hopes to land an apprenticeship when she graduates. She鈥檇 also be willing to go to school, but hopes to continue to learn on the job, just as she did this year. She wants to work.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure what company yet. I am going to be filling out a lot of applications,鈥 Nelson said.
The new home, students at the open house said, could hit the market somewhere around $500,000, which would mesh closely with other home listings on Waveland Road.
That puts the house in a slightly upper-tier realm for buyers, more likely to be a second or third home.
Some housing analysts say if more mid-tier or upper-tier housing is built locally, it could open up the market for lower-priced homes to come available.
The student-built home is now one more new house on the market 鈥 one more property available in a market at a time when the building pace has slowed moderately despite need for new homes.
In the first three months this year, Rock County saw permits for new housing starts plummet 17% compared to the same period last year, according to the Wisconsin Builders Association.
That鈥檚 a more severe falloff than national trends show. However, the nationwide numbers aren鈥檛 glimmering, either.
According to data from last quarter collected by the National Association of Homebuilders, permits are down year-over-year going into this year鈥檚 building season, although the falloff in single-family housing is the smallest portion of that falloff.
Overall, single-family housing permits were down 3.1% nationally, while apartment build permits were down 21.5% nationally compared to March 2025.
The NAH said there鈥檚 clear demand for new single-family homes, but regional markets still face headwinds based on cost of materials and lending interest rates 鈥 alongside limited labor availability in some regions.
The sluggish start to the building season comes as existing home sale prices keep climbing.
That鈥檚 as South Central Wisconsin Multiple Listing Service data shows average, existing single-family home sale prices jumped from $280,000 in spring 2025 to $300,000 in March, the most recent month with data available.
糖心Vlog传媒 Craig High School Senior Jake Arn is not hung up on current housing market statistics. Mainly, he viewed the student build as a challenge to learn things he did not know.
Arn said he鈥檚 always liked woodworking, but this year, he has learned every facet of building a home from start to completion: raising a frame from a foundation, electrical wiring installation, wood finishing work and even laying sod.
Arn鈥檚 focus on the future: starting his own business. He said the home build gives him a sense of how he might do that. To him, a career path forward would involve developing skills as he goes 鈥 whether it鈥檚 construction work or something else.
鈥淎 year ago, I didn鈥檛 know how to do half of this stuff. I didn鈥檛 know how to lay in sod, none of this, really,鈥 Arn said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I like, though. You don鈥檛 know how to do something, so you just learn how to do it. It鈥檒l be fine.鈥
