Saturday, August 15, 2015

Celebrate - Construction Workers

Thank You posters hung on the construction fences. Cheers and clapping filled the air. Construction workers wearing hard hats formed a long line and my school's PTA served them lemonade and hot dogs as the noontime sun shone down brightly. These many workers are building us a brand new school building - Discovery Elementary School in Arlington county, VA.

We celebrated the hard work being done by the many workers yesterday by feeding them lunch as a sign of our appreciation. Their work is harder because the calendar today reads August 15th and in just 24 days, the calendar will read September 8th  - First Day of School. It is going to be a beautiful school. It is designed to be a zero-net energy school by relying on solar panels, geo-thermal wells and a smart energy-efficient design. Today I celebrate these construction workers who are doing all they can, as fast as they can because they know the clock is ticking. They know that on September 8th, teachers and kids with their parents will be arriving to learn in this unique educational space.

Construction workers are a big part of my life now. On January 14, 2014 we had our house knocked down completely and hauled away. My husband is an architect and he designed a modern, energy efficient home to be built on our lot. And the construction workers began to build his design.






We are getting closer to moving into our newly built home. Today it looks like this from the front and from the back:



Today I also celebrate all involved in building my new house. So many construction workers -  the ones that knocked down the original house, the ones that placed the concrete and steel in place, the ones that pieced together the SIP panels. Those who welded together the plumbing pipes, threaded the electrical wires through the walls and ceilings and added the ducts and radiant panels. And the ones that carefully measured and hung the siding and the cedar shingles and others that somehow lifted all the big windows into place.

But mostly I celebrate my architect husband who envisioned such a house, a house with light-filled spaces and energy efficient features. A house that is clearly worth waiting for!

And finally,  I celebrate the patience required when one builds anything.

To see images of the school construction, go to http://apsva.us/Page/30592

To see more images of my house construction, go to www.whiteouthouse.tumblr.com

Check back after September 8th to see the school being used by my students and me
and in October (hopefully) to see images of us occupying our new white(out) house!

4 comments:

  1. The house is very cool. I'll bet you can't wait to move into two new and exciting spaces. How very nice of you to recognize the construction workers. I don't think they get much applause.

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  2. Best of luck on your new house that is a feat of design innovation. I am intrigued by your new school. My daughter is in the area looking for houses and wants to find a school district that has great schools and affordable houses as a first one. She will be working at Capitol One in Tyson's Corners? Can you offer suggestions on towns to look at if Arlington is unaffordable? Thanks.

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  3. Wow! What a gorgeous house! Something definitely worth celebrating.

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  4. I’m right there with you in celebrating construction workers. It seems like they are so underappreciated in our society and that’s just not right. They literally build EVERYTHING around us, and yet, they are hardly ever recognized for the hard work that they do. My children’s school is being remodeled as well, and this post gave me the idea to show the workers our appreciation. Thank you for sharing!

    Van Lucas @ JPC Custom Homes

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