Before some Bright School fifth-grade students proverbially set sail on their elementary school careers, they did literally embark in some boats.
Not only that, but the 12-foot row boats were uniquely built by them.
The project to plan and build these boats has actually been going on for several years at the independent elementary school off Hixson Pike in North Chattanooga, with two boats produced each of the last two school years.
It is the idea of current shop teacher Richard Parks, who thought the process of learning how to build a boat might be fun and teach some higher-level woodworking skills.
He also realized it could incorporate some of the school’s advanced math class curriculum to make for some great hands-on learning from multiple angles.
But as a craftsman himself, he also could not help but also visualize the joyful perspective of simply the finished product.
“As a woodworker, I know that any woodworker wants to eventually build a wooden boat,” he said during an interview at the school on May 21 as students were adding some finishing touches to the boats before graduating. “I don’t think there’s anything more beautiful than a well-designed, well-built wooden boat.”
And in contrast to just a piece of furniture or another wooden item someone might make, this one gets to be more actively enjoyed, he added.
Mr. Parks said the project began about four or five years ago as simply an after-school activity for students. He also found some instructional material put together about building a boat using math that went along with the state math standards and hoped the project could expand.
“I showed the administration that it was good to bring it into the everyday curriculum,” he said. “This is second year we have done it throughout the normal class day. We would like to get it where everyone is involved. Right now, we are doing it with the fifth-grade advanced math classes.
“We built one boat a semester, with half the kids one semester and the other half the next semester.”
The fifth-grade students taking part this year in constructing the small vessels were Mason Chaudhari, Arya Clinebell, Andrew Craig, Catherine Craig, Layla Dhanani, James Exum, Miller Haluska, Natalie Haney, Miller Labovitz, Quinn Lail, Erika Lane, Sunwoo Kwon, Stone Pratt, Adam Rifai, Mary Frances Smith and Logan Winter.
Stone Pratt, who said he plans to attend Baylor next year, said he enjoyed building the boat, while Catherine Craig, who will enroll at Girls Preparatory School, said she also enjoyed riding in it. The latter occurred when the students took it out on Lake Chickamauga by Chester Frost Park on May 6 as a celebration of the basic completion.
“We found the skeleton of a fish near the shore,” said the young Miss Craig, who was interested in the lines of the bones.
Wendy Rogers, who has just completed her fourth year as a Bright teacher and helped with the math portion of the project, liked how the numbers lined up, too, to create the two boats, which they called “Bright and Happy” and “Legacy.”
“It’s nice to collaborate, and it gives them an idea to see the connection of how we can use fractions to actually apply them and build something and have something in the end,” the teacher said.
While out on the water, they also did some water testing with kits provided by TVA. It was all a new experience shortly before the seasoned experience of being at Bright as students ended with the graduation on May 23.
Mr. Parks, who grew up in Oak Ridge, came to Bright in 2014 after teaching seventh-grade math in the Hamilton County Schools and with a background as a woodworking hobbyist. “I’ve always grown up doing woodworking and have done some jobs like finish carpentry, cabinetry and furniture making,” he said.
While this boat building is a new tradition at Bright, shop or manual training has always been a part of the curriculum dating back to possibly its beginning in 1913. Founder Mary Gardner Bright thought working with hands was an important part of a young person’s education and development, and the school has also offered art classes since the early decades.
The previous two shop teachers, Aaron Lowe and John Allen, stayed 23 and 27 years respectively, so the school has a long tradition in this fine art. That includes having the students make the uniquely triangular-shaped wooden Santa Clauses during their school careers.
“When I was interviewing for the position, (former school head) O.J. Morgan said you can make whatever you want to make as long as you keep making the Santa Clauses,” Mr. Parks remembered with a laugh.
He said he starts the pre-kindergarten students making simple items like pencil holders and toy trucks and tries to build the complexity of the projects each grade using more tools.
The boat project has been the pinnacle so far for the students, even though Mr. Parks sees ways that it can be improved and expanded.
“Every teacher wishes he had more time,” he said. “The program is still very young with a lot more potential. Now with four boats, we can have a whole class on the water at the same time.”
He said they will probably scale back to building about one boat a year to make the overall project easier, and they might eventually try and auction off some of the boats to raise money for the school if they get an abundance.
But for now, it is full speed ahead for this unique scholastic shipyard on the terra firma of the Bright School campus. And that keeps Mr. Parks and the students excited.
“Of all the projects I have made with the students, watching a group of kids and seeing their boat float for the first time is exciting,” said the teacher. “They don’t believe it until they see it. And there is the sense of accomplishment. You can see it in their faces like, ‘I built that.’ It’s pretty incredible.”
Added young Mr. Pratt in summation, “It was fun.”
* * *
Jcshearer2@comcast.net