Mr. Josh Haynes is new to the Merrillville High School teaching staff this school year. He teaches Construction I and Construction II in a unique classroom located in the high school parking lot by the tennis courts. Upon entering, you notice the absence of desks, but rather unconventional stations to do various types of construction related work.
Mr. Haynes graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Construction Management. Upon graduation, he worked for Powers & Sons Construction Company in Gary, Indiana. He was employed as a Project Engineer and actually served as Project Manager on a job for First Financial Bank. So, why teach? Mr. Haynes said that he comes from a family of educators and has the “teaching bug”. He also enjoyed some time coaching during college which ignited his passion for teaching. As a 2013 Merrillville High School graduate, Mr. Haynes truly wanted to come back to teach and help students like himself. With this in mind, he pursued opportunities in education. Fortunately, it led him to the open position with Merrillville Community School Corporation where he was hired for the 2018-2019 school year.
Mr. Haynes feels in this role he can help students understand more about the construction industry. He has a desire to build awareness and generate enthusiasm for the construction trades and construction management as well as grow enrollment in this program. Students in his classes are currently working on building a playhouse. Students are also learning how to lay a floor base, lay out a wall, build a roof, install insulation, drywall, and much, much more! Furthermore, students are learning how math like the pythagorean theorem is relevant in real-life work. Mr. Haynes hopes that by following his passion, he will not only build awareness for this industry, but take this program to new heights.