After successfully building two doghouses to donate to the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, students in Andrew Poppelreiter’s construction systems class at Chartiers Valley High School are taking on an even bigger project.
The 17 students in grades 9 through 12 are building a playhouse that will be transported to the Chartiers Valley Primary School playground when finished. The playhouse, which will be decorated in a firehouse motif, is 8 feet high by 10 feet long.
“The students have built every bit of it,” Mr. Poppelreiter said, adding the students sketched out the project and he drew up the blueprints.
“I wanted to do something meaningful,” in the class, Mr. Poppelreiter said.
At the beginning of the semester, students don’t know much about construction, and the class allows them to learn skills like measuring, using hand tools and framing a structure, he added.
“I think it’s a lost art,” Mr. Poppelreiter said of construction. He said it’s good for students to learn the basics of construction, like something as simple as using a screwdriver.
“It’s teaching them basic hand skills,” he said.
Freshman Caitlyn Meldin has cut most of the wood for the playhouse.
“It’s something to do that I look forward to,” she said of the class.
Cole Grojsovich, a junior, said he likes the more “hands-on class.”
“It’s better than sitting in a classroom all day,” he said, adding that his favorite thing to do is “definitely using the power tools.”
“There’s no other classes where you’re able to build stuff,” said Collin Egger, a junior.
“I thought it might come in handy later in life, like with a job or something,” Collin said as his reason for taking the class. He added that he enjoys using the nail gun on the project.
Mr. Poppelreiter said the students will finish the playhouse by the end of the semester in January and start on a new one next semester. He also plans to have the next class build up to 10 more doghouses to donate to the Humane Society.
Deana Carpenter, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.
First Published: December 18, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
