Academies of Louisville student helps build water system
Fern Creek High School junior Keegan Lerch was in his element. In the tiny Honduran village of Puentesita, with a goal of building a water purification system for its 150 families, Keegan knew what to do. He was ready because of the classes he’s taking in the Academies of Louisville plumbing pathway at Fern Creek.
“It was putting a whole bunch of PVC pipes together – gluing them, sanding them, making sure there were no leaks, and cutting them to the right length,” Keegan said. “It was all stuff we’d practiced hundreds of times in class. The plumbing pathway prepared me for all of it.”
Keegan and his Fern Creek High School friend and football teammate, Alex Wilson, were in Honduras as part of a mission trip with Alex’s mother, Dr. Jai Wilson, an assistant principal at the school. Dr. Wilson says it was an opportunity for the boys to see their passion for service and applying what they’ve learned in the classroom to real world situations.
“I texted Keegan’s teacher on the way home the first night and told him ‘everything you’ve taught him he has applied in a real-world situation… He’s earned an A.’” Dr. Wilson said. “It’s a big deal.”
Keegan not only helped construct and install the water system, he knew how to fix the leaks that popped up when they turned it on for the first time. He also showed the Hondurans how to maintain it.
While Keegan was constructing the water system, Alex was mixing concrete and pouring a floor in a home with only dirt under the family’s feet. The concrete work was hard, but Alex and his mother say the perseverance and ability to learn from mistakes that Fern Creek teaches played a role in the job being successfully completed.
“Everyone was blown away that they were high school students with these skills,” Dr. Wilson said. “They kept asking Keegan ‘Are you really in high school?’”
She said the beauty of the Academies of Louisville career and college pathways is that students have skills to enter the workforce or college or just use in their daily lives.
Alex is a senior who plans to attend college next year, majoring in computer science. He plans to travel the world and continue doing mission work.
Keegan wants to be a marine biologist and do plumbing work “on the side.”
Dr. Wilson hopes to open up the overseas trip to all Fern Creek academies students next year with the school or alumni association sponsoring it as an educational experience.