The Rangely High School Ag Mechanics and Power Structure classes spent the first half of the school year developing skills in the area of construction management. In doing this, the students of RHS have completed two storage sheds to be used by the school for athletic programs and PE classes. These students have taken pride in building these structures and have developed skills they can continue to use at home or in future careers.
Rangely High School’s Ag Mechanics and Power Structure classes spent the first half of the year developing useful skills through the construction of two storage sheds. | COURTESY PHOTO
The construction of these sheds helped the kids build upon and develop new skills needed for this construction project. Students began the school year by honing their skills in measuring, developing plans and bills of materials and tool usage. They learned information and skills like actual dimensions of lumber and the difference between treated lumber and common lumber. They started the project by developing their plans and drawings to put together a lumber order. When construction started, the classes followed their developed plans to create floors, walls and roof structures. In building, the floors students learned how to build skids, and to build them out of treated lumber, as well as how to lay out the floor joist system to account for the use of the building. Once the floor was done, the class began constructing the walls. Students learned the proper spacing of studs and what the different parts of the walls are. They constructed the walls while learning what a header, double top plate and trimmer studs are.
The challenging part of building structures is generally building the roof. The students learned the math behind having a 4/12 pitch and how to build the trusses for the roof. After they got the math figured, they designed and built 26 trusses ready to go up. This is when the sheds were finally seen out in front of the high school as they were towed out of the shop. After putting the trusses on, the students learned how to put on a very basic fascia and how to prepare the roof for drip edge and shingles.
The final part of this project was building the doors. The students learned how to square the doors, build their own frames, and install the hinges and latches.
Building the sheds was a fun learning experience. The students definitely developed skills that will allow them to complete other construction projects. These sheds will be around for a long time and these students should be proud of their efforts.
BY CRANDAL MERGELMAN – Submitted to the Herald Times
