Carpentry students at BPHS build storage shed

What's going on behind closed doors at Blooming Prairie High School?

It looks like they are building a house in the industrial arts area located on the south end of the high school.

No, it's not a house; it's an outdoor storage shed that Construction Technology class members are building.

The nine class members are directed by Bill (Rink) Rinkenberger, vocational agriculture instructor and Future Farmers of America advisor. This shed represents the seventh structure that a Rinkenberger class has built.

Rinkenberger has seen membership in FFA grow from 12 members in 2003 to 54 in 2019. That is quite a credit to his teaching ability.

Rink also works as a farmhand in the Claremont area.

Two of the seven sheds were constructed for the Blooming Prairie Education Foundation's annual auctions. "There was a lot of interest in community members buying the shed the first year, but interest trailed off the second year," Rinkenberger said.

The construction technology class has also built a storage shed for girls softball storage and one for Blossom football storage.

On this particular day, students were on scaffolding putting the structure together. Their project is to build a 16 by 12 foot wooden shed with a mini steel rollup door.

The shed is being built for a private party who pays the school a contracted price.

Rinkenberger says the students "really enjoy" working on this construction project.

In addition to developing building skills, the students utilize their math skills in shaping a construction plan, Rinkenberger said. "The kids learn how to calculate figures for angles, feet and pitch of the building.”

The students are very involved and committed, Rinkeberger says. He sometimes gets involved, hands-on the project but at other times, he says he sits and watches the young carpenters.

Each student has a job, says Rinkenberger, for example two people are in charge of quality when building the shed's walls.

"The kids love to come to class and they hate to leave when the bell rings," Rinkenberger remarked.

After the students have finished cleaning up their work area, they retire to the classroom where they are given a treat, two boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

It becomes a free-for-all as the class members attempt to claim some cookies. "Each person gets two cookies," Rinkeberger tells the students.

This class can lead some of the students toward a career path, Rinkenberger says.