Under Construction: A New High School, a World of Career Options

JE Dunn Construction recently gave 73 freshmen engineering students from Jenkins High School a site-tour introduction to managing a construction project from the ground up — in this instance, a brand new Jenkins High to replace the existing school facility built in the 1950s in Chatham County, Georgia. This was an especially exciting experience for students who will soon be walking the hallways and continuing their high school experience at the newly constructed school.

JE Dunn is the construction manager for the $57.8-million project for Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools, delivering a 239,000-square-foot, two-story instructional building on the existing 40-acre Jenkins campus, as well as new facilities for track and field, baseball, football, softball, tennis and a field house, plus site work and demolition of existing structures.

“The students had really good questions,” said Project Engineer Reanna Coggins. They were curious about windscreens, safety measures and budgeting, among other elements. They also had questions about amenities of their new facility.

Coggins and Project Engineer Drew Arrington spearheaded JE Dunn’s participation in Jenkins’ observance of National Engineers Week, raising public awareness of engineering careers and technical education.

During a classroom discussion preceding the tour, Coggins and Arrington explained their distinct roles with the project and laid out how engineering, architecture and a multitude of construction trades, vendors and suppliers — all career possibilities — fit into the picture. Students learned that construction, like many other industries, requires mastery of teamwork, critical thinking, problem solving, communication and other soft skills.

“The opportunity to view building components up close, to don hard hats and other safety gear, to broaden their awareness of construction-related fields and to learn that both Arrington and Coggins had come from outside the area to study construction management at nearby Georgia Southern University — all registered positively with the students,” Jenkins High engineering technology teacher Carolyn Perry, Ed.D., said.

The new Jenkins High School will support a full STEM curriculum and will serve 1,375 students.

Project completion is scheduled for summer 2021.

The architect of record is Hussey Gay Bell.