The Mycenaean

LRHS students compete in statewide SHED contest. The organizers and contractors associated with the competition hope to encourage students to go into the trades. 

The SHED competition began in 2017 with just a few schools. In 2023, it has grown immensely and is now in all 100 counties in North Carolina. 

“The whole purpose is about getting the students involved in the construction industry and to know they have opportunities and career options in the construction field. For thirteen years, I heard the contractors screaming about the skilled trade shortages, and nobody was doing anything about it, so we started the shed contest originally just to get the students into the construction industry and to know they had options other than college and the military,” said Michelle Lewter, the CEO and organizer for the SHED competition. 

Every group of students from each school is paired with a few contractors, project managers, and sponsors. These men and women oversee the work done by the students and help the students out. They are able to help guide the students in the actual completion of the shed, but the students build the actual shed themselves. 

“I think this is a great opportunity to connect with kids and introduce them to construction. Although it’s a small aspect of construction and doesn’t really show the whole broad industry, this shows them one aspect of it. I’ve known and heard about a few kids getting hired on with  construction companies while at SHED. I think this experience has encouraged kids who might not have been looking into construction, to actually go into that field just from this SHED experience,” said Nathan Coffey, a project manager from Aggregate Group, LLC.