‘How does the building not fall down?’: Philly second graders’ quest to learn about a project rising outside their classroom yields adorable answers
Second graders at Fanny Jackson Coppin Elementary guessed that "four thousand million" bricks were used in the massive renovation project on S. 12th Street. They were close - it's 17,500.
The massive construction project rose outside Room 221, where 22 curious second graders peered outside their classroom daily, noting daily progress with great interest.
Sometimes, the kids at Fanny Jackson Coppin School, on South 12th Street in South Philadelphia, cheered for the workers, spurring them on as the summer heat gave way to chillier temperatures.
But they had so many questions: “What colors are for the building, and how many colors are you going to use? Red or pink?” and “How does the building not fall down?” and “When will you stop making it taller and taller?”
Teacher Kate Atkins collected the 7- and 8-year-olds’ queries, compiling them in a letter she left at the job site with her phone number. “We think you should come and tell us about construction because it is getting better and better,” the kids wrote.
Jack Delaney, the project manager on the job site, found the letter. He was charmed; he reached out to Atkins.
And on a frigid Friday, Delaney and Zach Winters, construction manager and a cofounder of 3rd Story Philly, the development and construction company working on the house project, walked into Room 221 with tools to show and energy appropriate for a roomful of enthusiastic second graders.
For 50 minutes — a long time for second-grade attention spans — the students talked about tools and examined pictures of the project in progress. They donned their own hard hats. But mostly, they gleaned information.
Here are some of Room 221’s greatest hits:
Question: Why did you decide to make the house bigger by making it taller instead of making it wider?
Answer: “We build additions on top of existing homes or sometimes behind existing homes, because there’s not a lot of space in the city,” Winters said. “We make the house bigger by going up.”
Q: Do you ever worry that you’re going to fall off the building?
A: “Yes, I do,” Winters said. “You should always be worried that you’re going to fall off something high. We try to be very careful. We try to stay away from the edge of the building. If we’re close to the edge of the building, we put on safety harnesses, so if we were to fall, that could catch us. But, yes, I’m worried, and my wife worries, and my mother worries.”
Q: How much will the house cost to build?
A: The project is a full remodel, with third- and fourth-story additions, basement excavation, and two roof decks.
“Often today, we are building a new construction at around $200 to $250 a square foot,” Winters said. “And it depends on how fancy the building is. A project like this is close to a half-million dollars. That’s a lot of money — but it’s a lot of house.”
Q: How long will it take to finish the house?
A: “Eight months to a year,” Delaney said.
“That depends on how many problems we have. Sometimes, it rains for a week, and we have to get the roof done,” Winters said. “Sometimes, it gets really cold, and the masons can’t work.”
The Coppin kids did not let Delaney and Winters off easy.
“Will it be done by Christmas?” one student said. No, Delaney and Winters said. The job started in March. It won’t finish until next year.
“Maybe you should try to finish it by Hanukkah,” another student said.
Q: (To Delaney) Do you do any drywall?
A: “I don’t, but the drywallers do,” Delaney said. “They are very strong. They hold up giant sheets of drywall.”
Winters interjected: Delaney knows how to drywall, but that’s not his job right now.
Delaney smiled.
“I get to say, ‘Hey, you go do the drywall,’ and then I run away,” he said.
The kids loved the level Delaney showed them. They had excellent guesses about how many bricks were used on the project.
“Four thousand million,” one girl shouted.
(Close — it’s 17,500.)
At the end of the visit, Atkins had a question for the kids.
“Who might want to work in construction someday?” she asked.
Nearly every hand shot up.
Delaney and Winters looked triumphant.
“We’ve got a labor shortage now,” Winters said. “Let’s go!”