Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Students Construct 2 Homes While Building Their Futures : Education: The seven-month project is a partnership between the city, the school district and a developer.

PALMDALE — FOR SALE: Two new homes in east Palmdale. Three bedrooms, two baths, lots of extras. Built by high school students.

That’s right, students. The homes were constructed through an innovative partnership among the city of Palmdale, the Antelope Valley Union High School District and developer Centex Homes.

The goal of the program, proposed about a year ago by Councilman Jim Root, also a high school work experience coordinator, was to give vocational education students from Palmdale and Highland high schools a chance to sharpen their home-building skills while providing them with a sense of pride for having constructed a house.

Antelope Valley vocational education students for years have built sheds, gazebos and the like, but never before have they taken on something of this magnitude.

At a dedication ceremony Monday, several students said the seven-month project helped them decide what they want to do with their lives.

Sha Harmon, a Palmdale High School senior, said she has abandoned her plans to work with animals now that she helped build a house.

“I plan to get my real estate broker’s license, build houses and sell them for myself,” Harmon said.

Last year in school, Harmon said she learned to build sheds. This year, it was houses. “I learned some skills I never thought I’d learn.”

Palmdale High junior Ben Balagtas, who before the project did not have any post-graduation plans, now plans to start his own carpentry business. “They get paid a lot,” he said.

About two dozen students worked on the houses, which are in Sunchase, a Centex Homes tract off of 60th Street East and Avenue R. During the ceremony, a “key” to the homes was turned over to Palmdale, which funded the project through its Redevelopment Agency.

The city put about $190,000 into the project for the purchase of land and supplies as well as for professional builders to oversee and assist in the construction, said Danny Roberts, Palmdale’s redevelopment manager.

Each of the homes will be sold for no more than $80,000 to qualifying low- or moderate-income families, Roberts said.

Plans are under way to continue the program next year. Roberts said that as early as next month he will submit a report seeking City Council approval to make the program part of the curriculum for Palmdale and Highland high schools.

The money made from the sale of the homes, he said, would be used the following year to buy land and materials.

Said Mayor Jim Ledford: “I see unlimited potential with this program.”