Shed Construction Project
Throughout the first nine weeks of the school year, Mr. Carroll’s junior and senior woodworking students engaged in a shed construction project. This is the second time that students from Ellis High School have worked on such a project. The class constructed this shed for an Ellis community member, and students worked on it both in class as well as on site. The students built the walls and roof trusses in the classroom and then spent two days out of school to work on the project on site. This was a rather large project for the kids as the building was 16’ by 20’, which was a little larger than what we built last year. However, this year’s seniors who were involved in the project last year did a great job of stepping up and taking a leadership role in all of this.
The students gained hands on experience in wall and roof framing, sheathing, siding, roofing, installing doors and windows, and installing siding. Beyond this, they learned to work together as a team and the importance of quality and accuracy in construction. This is a fun project for the kids. It gets them out of their routine and gives them a chance to apply some of the skills that they have developed in class, as well as learn new skills that will make them more employable and better problem solvers.
Mr. Carroll plans to make this a yearly project and already has sheds lined out for the next several years. EHS will offer a building trades class next year. Those students will be involved with the shed building, and the class will introduce the students to more of the design and planning, cost and materials estimates, and working with customers. The class will also teach the students basic plumbing, electrical, drywall, interior finishing, concrete, and stair construction.
Students involved with this year’s project were Jacob Begler, Austin Bittel, Patrick Dreiling, Aaron Gnad, Dillon Kinderknecht, Jacob Kinderknecht, Jared Knoll, Derek Kvasnicka, Logan Mattheyer, William Poland, Nate Townley, Garret Vandenberg, and Ryan Weber.
Here’s a link to the photo slideshow. http://www.usd388.k12.ks.us/highschool/faculty/matt_carroll/Images/shed_101509/index.html
Matt Carroll
11/4