The Hermiston School District announced that Hermiston architect Gail Sargent will serve as mentor for the district’s newly-developed homebuilders program.
According to Hermiston School District Deputy Superintendent Wade Smith, Sargent volunteered to work with the students in the Columbia Basin Student Homebuilders Program (CBSHP). Specifically, Sargent will lend her professional expertise in assisting Hermiston High School’s Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) students as they begin home design this spring.
The program’s students will begin foundation work on a residential home in August.
“We are delighted to have Mrs. Sargent assist us in the development of our first project,” said Curt Berger, CBSHP lead teacher. “Her guidance, expertise, and willingness to support our program speaks volumes of her commitment to our students and community.”
Sargent will be providing regular classroom mentorship and guidance over the course of the spring term to assist students through the conceptual design work and, ultimately, the final plans.
“Working shoulder to shoulder with Mrs. Sargent will provide the students an authentic learning experience like none they have ever had,” said Smith, who developed the program and wrote a $400,000 grant received in January. “This early example of professional mentorship and experiential learning is at the heart of our program design and serves as a model of what lays ahead over the coming months.”
A comprehensive website has been developed to track the progress of the program, and it will feature a live video feed of the project once construction begins. With the goal of completing a state-of-the-art, high quality home every year, students from various curriculums and interests will have the opportunity to become actively involved in various aspects of the project.
“The program is truly one of a kind,” said Sargent. “It’s an honor to be a part of this endeavor that will provide an amazing opportunity for students in our area.”
An Oregon native, Sargent studied math, science and architecture at Portland State University then transferred to the University of Oregon, where she completed her bachelor of architecture degree in 1980. Following graduation she interned at Suter + Suter International AG in Basel, Switzerland, before returning to Oregon to work for CH2M Hill in Corvallis, where she met and married her husband, Mark. A Hermiston resident since 1984, Sargent worked briefly for Pence Associates in Pasco and Lynch-Fitzgerald & Associates in Pendleton before starting her own firm in Hermiston in 1989.
