NORTH ANSON — It’s not the portico at the Pantheon in Rome or the East Wing of the U.S. Capitol, but it’s a portico nonetheless, and it is at the front door of Carrabec High School.
The 11-foot, six-inch tall, 16-foot long covered entrance to the school is being built by five high school students in Jim Easler’s industrial technology class, a three-week summer school elective, good for a half-credit toward graduation.
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The project, made with pressure-treated eight-by-eight-inch beams, also will be counted as community service hours on each student’s portfolio.
Students have already built pressure-treated trusses that will be used for the roof of the portico, Easler said Tuesday. Tongue-and-groove pine will finish off the interior of the roof, leaving the sides open for covered benches later, he said.
“One of the things we try to emphasize on the kids is real-life application,” Easler said.
All the timber has been measured, cut and finished by the students, ready to be attached to the school building’s original steel H-beam.
School Principal Regina Campbell said funding for the $7,000 project has come from donations, the school’s Bodzwell Fund endowment and from federal School Improvement Grant money. Hammond Lumber Co. also has helped with discounts on material, Easler said.
“We have a local contractor, Daryl Partridge, who offered to come and help us pick these up with his loader,” Easler said of the beams, which each weigh about 325 pounds. Each of the support posts has been set five feet into the ground.
Students also welded the brackets that will be used to connect the pieces together, Easler said.
“We needed to apply geometry to make the trusses, because we had to cut those at 45-degree angels,” junior Anthony Toneatti of Solon said. “That theoretically made 45-by-45-by-90- triangles. I’m doing this because I enjoy working with this kind of stuff.”
His workmate, sophomore Kenny White of New Portland, agreed.
“I wanted to just help out the school — this will be a permanent structure — it will be a cool thing to look back on,” White said. “We learned how to weld and how to make things with metal and wood.”
Other students involved in the project are Cody Gatcomb, a senior from Solon; Terry Post, an junior from North Anson; and Nick Beane, a senior from Embden.
Easler said the crew will continue on the project this week and take next week off for the Fourth of July holiday.
“Weather permitting, we’ll come back the following week and finish it up,” he said.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com
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