Some classrooms at Crookston High School are receiving a fresh look thanks to students from Travis Oliver’s industrial education classes. Oliver says the students have been hard at work, extending walls to the ceiling and installing rustic alder on the walls, with the students making all the shiplap to resemble a pirate ship.
Oliver split the work between two groups: one working on the southwest rooms and one working on the southeast rooms. Seniors Lucas Perala and Greyson Ecker led the southwest group, as they were fairly close to finishing their work before the final day of classes for seniors on Thursday. Ecker spoke about Oliver’s leadership and how hard this group has worked over the past two months to complete this project.
“He [Travis] has kind of helped us step by step and kind of been a hand in this too, so it’s not just us,” said Ecker. “Yeah, it’s bittersweet. Of course, everybody’s excited to be done, so it’ll be fun.”
Perala said working on projects in Oliver’s class has helped him and his classmates learn skills like mudding and drywall installation that can be valuable in the future both professionally and personally.
“There are actually quite a few,” Perala recalled. “One that really hit me was mudding. Travis said he had a buddy who made a bunch of money last year, and it’s pretty easy to mud, honestly. And you just learn a lot of skills.”
Another, smaller group, including senior Josh Hesby, started their work on the southeast rooms a few weeks before their classmates across the way and were also proud of how much it took to make the offices and classrooms look more vibrant with the shiplap on the walls.
“We had to tear down a bunch of wallpaper, and we had to raise the wall to the ceiling just to give them more privacy in there since this is a calming room,” explained Hesby. “And then after, we put drywall up, we had to finish the inside, and then we started putting up shiplap.”
About his students, Oliver says he thinks it is a unique opportunity for them to be able to build something that is long lasting and can bring a different look to the school, pointing out other projects done by his classes over the years. His students agreed, saying that while they’ve been working, students and staff have been interested in seeing the progress and love the idea of beautifying the school through hands-on experience by the shop classes.
“At least it’s nice because we’re seniors, so it’s kind of like we’re leaving something for the future classes coming through. So, yeah, I mean, it’s nice,” Hesby explained.
Oliver said any work the students don’t complete before the end of the year will be done himself in the early portion of the summer break, including some stain for the shiplap panels.
SOUTHEAST GROUP: Josh Hesby, Ashton Hoffman, Nolan Cassavant, and Tristan Bell. Not Pictured: Austin Thode
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