All Kevin Middleton wants is a roof by Thanksgiving.

Courtney Webb can walk into a space and know -- just know -- how to make it pop.

For a while, it resembled a teenager who had just gone through a growth spurt. The bones of the student-built house at 13009 Connecticut Ave. in Silver Spring were there, but the rest of it was still a bit awkward, even gangly.

Every day, after a morning of classes at Wheaton High School, David Gonzales, a dark-haired, slightly scruffy senior, headed to Thomas Edison High School of Technology. There he donned a tool belt and goggles and went to work as part of a team of student builders who have been constructing a...