Nursing Home Getting a Facelift Thanks to Students

DUBOIS, CLEARFIELD COUNTY---The DuBois Nursing Home was built in 1979, and although administrators knew it was time for a major facelift of their grounds, they couldn’t afford to hire a landscape design company. That’s when they reached out to the Landscape Contracting Department at Penn State.

Justin Sherman just graduated from Penn State last week, and for his last project there, he and four of his classmates created a master plan to completely re-landscape the grounds at the DuBois Nursing Home.

“They wanted an area that would be more functional, as well as aesthetically pleasing because the façade of this building is very 1960’s, kind of institutional like,” Sherman said.

The DuBois Nursing Home is a non-profit organization, and Business Development Specialist Jodi August said the project probably wouldn’t have happened if Penn State hadn’t offered to help.

“The students got to take on a very large project for a grade, and we got the benefits of them being on a learning curve and getting all the latest design work done for our facility,” August said.

They’re now in the process of raising money to execute the plans, August said you would never know the students weren’t professionals, and she’s glad they were able to put what they’ve learned in the classroom into practice.

Sherman said it’s projects like these that prepare him for his future career.

“We got out in the field. We actually talk to clients. We actually do these projects, which really helps us transition into the real world,” he said.

The field experience that those students got helped them put together a portfolio for potential employers, and apparently it’s working. Just one week after graduation, Sherman already has a job lined-up in Oklahoma City as a landscape designer.