Education, vocation, and community solidarity. LGSD Proudly unveil second Tiger Home to the public
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, June 9th, 2026 in Northeastern Oregon News Northeastern Oregon Top Stories
LA GRANDE – On the afternoon of Wednesday, June 3, a small crowd gathered on the corner of 3rd Street and I avenue in the driveway of a sleek new two-story townhouse. It wasn’t just any piece of real estate however, as the home had been built from the ground up in part by a dedicated team of local high school students along with talented contractors turned teachers. This event was the long-awaited open house for the La Grande School District’s second completed Tiger Home.
For those unfamiliar, the Tiger Homes Project is an ongoing effort by the La Grande School district to construct a series of houses on district owned property, all the while teaching vocational and trade skills to high school students. While professional contractors and construction workers are brought in, La Grande’s own CTE students provide hands-on assistance with construction, all the while learning directly from the professionals. As the houses are complete, they are sold to local community partners for various uses, aiding in addressing the local housing demand.
Reflecting on the completion of the project, LGSD Assistant Superintendent Scott Carpenter would remark:
“We love it. Loved the community partnerships and all the partners that make it possible. Miller’s is a big contributor. Gus and his construction team. Mark Cedar our architect, and then just Travis Stizel and Callon Pennington, there’s just a long litany of people that make this possible. We just love that. We love that they’re working with our kids. A kid can come to school and learn a craft and feel competent and confident about that skill. It’s just fantastic. Big thank you to our community.”
The latest Tiger Home isn’t just an achievement in construction and community cooperation, but a milestone for La Grande’s CTE program. Summarizing from an opening speech from Superintendent George Mendoza, the program went from building doghouses to real houses in a short span of time. In addition, not only did the latest Tiger Home see improvements in efficiency and quality over the first, but students from across the district were given a chance to contribute.
According to La Grande CTE instructor Parker McKinley, around 27 students worked at the actual construction site. Beyond that, upwards of 80 students contributed to the project in various ways. For example, the balcony deck railing was built in-house by La Grande metal shop students. As reflected by McKinley:
“There’s so many things that go into a build process, and when you go through all of those and every success along the way and every challenge along the way to get to the end point, and have the kids work through that with us…there’s a lot of satisfaction involved at the end point and I’m really proud of all of them.”
It cannot be understated just how much the students learned during the building process, helped in part by the contractors who were “here longer than they would have been normally but were very patient and worked with the kids,” According to McKinley. With the young men and women having built up a unique portfolio of skills in woodworking, dry-wall, painting and other construction related tasks, other groups in the community have taken notice. According to McKinley, multiple students have already been offered jobs by different local contractors and companies, explaining:
“We’ve had contractors that have been here on site, and different kids have taken to different pieces of the construction process. Business owners notice that. When they see it and when there’s kids that are thinking ‘yeah I kind of like this or I have a little bit of a knack for this,’ then there are contractors who are looking for good help right now and people that can show up and have an aptitude to learn and contribute. It was cool to see that happen quite a few times on this project.”
As for the students themselves, while some were less thrilled than others talking in front of a crowd, those who were able to make time and attend the open house reflected positively on their experience. When asked how it felt to see the project complete, recent LGSD graduate Karissa Danielle remarked:
“It was really an amazing process. It’s still crazy to think that in like six months we can go from having a house that has nothing to it, to it being fully completed. You get to meet a lot of new people along the way.”
Fellow student Aiden Blessed likewise remarked:
“It feels really good. I remember being able to walk through every wall in this house. We didn’t have dry wall or anything. Just to see cabinets, countertops, all that type of stuff, the finished product, everything coming together with the help of us.”
As for what’s next, as previously mentioned, the LGSD has at least eight more years of Tiger Homes planned at an expected schedule of one new house per year on the remaining property. Both the first and second Tiger Homes have already been sold to Grande Ronde Hospital (GRH) to serve as housing for doctors.
In the meantime, part of the, as of yet, undeveloped Tiger Home property is planned to be temporarily developed as a community garden space, also maintained by LGSD student
