A wet start to Saturday morning didn't stop Ball State architecture students from helping better the Muncie community.
Members of the American Institute of Architecture Students volunteered at Habitat for Humanity on Saturday to complete homes in Muncie. The students put together storm doors at the Muncie Habitat office in the morning, and after a quick pizza break, they headed out into the community to install the doors to put the finishing touches on homes built in 2004.
Mike Schulte, president of AIAS, said he thinks volunteering at Habitat for Humanity is one thing that helps the student group's members apply what they have learned in the classroom to the real world.
"Taking classes is nice because you understand how it all works and you see it graphically, but it always helps to get out on the site and do physical work," Schulte said.
John Castillo, director of land development and construction at Muncie's habitat office, also said the experience helps students apply what they are learning.
"From what I can see, a lot of architecture students have not had hands-on experience," Castillo said. "We try to give them an actual experience for them to grasp the tools and knowledge."
Castillo, who the AIAS members call the "brains of the operation," said that working with Habitat for Humanity can give something to the architecture students that the classroom can't.
"They build knowledge when they volunteer, and their work helps us build homes, so it's a win-win situation," he said.
The AIAS members also worked at the Muncie Habitat office a couple of weeks ago to help the office become compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students raised the front room of the building to be even with the conference room in the back.
In the coming weeks, students will build ramps onto the deck they installed in the front of the building.
Students are also scheduled to work on Habitat for Humanity houses in Muncie two more times before the end of the semester.
"We are just trying to get students to help the community and help ourselves learn through the community," Schulte said.
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