COEUR d'ALENE — Conversation among construction students and industry professionals could barely be heard above the buzzing, hammering and banging Wednesday during the Construction Combine at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. 

About 50 hard hat-topped high schoolers enrolled at Kootenai Technical Education Campus gained hands-on experience as they built five good-sized sheds from the ground up.

"We’re learning how to put the shingles on the roofs and they were teaching us how to use the nail gun so that it doesn’t fire without you wanting it to," said Asher McCully, a junior at Coeur d’Alene High School. "They’re teaching us good safety stuff.”

KTEC construction students are currently learning how to craft sheds in class.

“Last year at KTEC we finished up one shed and then we started up another shed at the end of the year and we weren’t able to finish it,” Coeur d'Alene High senior Luke Ewing said.

He said Wednesday’s real-world lesson was all making sense to him thanks to that previous experience.

“I just really love how good of safety they’re teaching us and how to get things done efficiently and the right way,” he said.

Four of the five sheds will be donated to local veterans as part of the give-back program Construction Combine LLC owners Annie and Steven Quinton of Pocatello have conducted across Idaho, Colorado and Oregon for the past seven years.

This is the second time since 2018 the Quintons and their philanthropic construction program have come to Kootenai County. They are working with the Post Falls American Legion to distribute the sheds, which will be presented to the veterans at the fairgrounds between 2 and 3 this afternoon, then moved to their respective homes. The public is welcome to attend the presentation.

Annie Quinton said the program is made possible through a foundational grant from Home Depot, which helps with shed supplies.

“All the rest is donated from the area," she said. "The contractors that come the first day give a day of their time.”

Personnel from the Army National Guard are always onsite to help out during Construction Combines to lend assistance as needed. Silver Ridge Construction and the North Idaho Building Contractors Association have been instrumental local partners as well, Annie said.

One of the sheds will be donated to the Kootenai County Fairgrounds as a "thank you" for allowing the Construction Combine to take place in the parking lot.

“They’ve been so gracious," Annie said. "I can’t tell you how wonderful these people are."

She said at the heart of this program are the contractors, the kids, the veterans and the community.

"That’s 100% what it’s about," she said.

Raylee Reynolds, a Post Falls High School junior, worked with a peer to place shingles on a roof, then attach them with a nail gun.

“I think this is great," she said. "This is really what we need, something to get outside of the classroom, get hands-on activity. It allows us to see how work is going to be outside in the heat and the troubles you’re going to be facing not only with yourself but working with others.” 

“We got free sandwiches, so that’s pretty nice,” Lakeland High School senior Bryce Fuller said with a grin. 

Bryce, who said he is planning to go into electrical or construction after high school, said he enjoyed the Construction Combine and learning how to build sheds that will go to a good cause.

“I’m just excited to be here and glad that everyone wanted to participate in this,” he said.

    Coeur d'Alene High School juniors Isaac Lowder, left, and Asher McCully move lumber Wednesday as they participate in the Construction Combine event at the fairgrounds.
  

    Post Falls High School junior Raylee Reynolds arranges shingles while working on roofing a shed Wednesday during the Construction Combine event at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.
  

    Coeur d'Alene High junior Karson Strange work on framing a shed wall Wednesday during the Construction Combine at the fairgrounds. Students will wrap construction on five sheds today. Four of them will be presented to local veterans this afternoon.
  

    Coeur d'Alene High senior Luke Ewing, center, inspects buckets of tools as they arrive to the job site Wednesday.