Students lend a hand with hospital renovations

Students from the Hot Springs County High School Woods Class braved bitter cold and snow flurries Monday morning to put the final touches on their first big class project of the year: a wooden enclosure that would reroute some traffic from the emergency room during remodeling for a new MRI and the installation of glass doors.

The project, which was started three weeks ago by the woods class students, is slated to be finished Dec. 1, but teacher Thomas Koehler hopes that the lessons students learn will stay with them throughout their careers and lives.

"What this project offered for us is that we got to learn framing construction and learn some of the practices of the building industry, [including] communication lines, preparation," said Koehler, as one of his students immediately chimed in that the construction of the walls was similar to the construction of houses.

"We did build these wall sections the same as you would build a house, so it would give [the students] some real life experience," he continued. But the experience did not just end there.

"It also showed them that you don't have to be a nurse or a doctor to work at the hospital. The other [maintenance] guys were here full-time, and they helped us out a lot."

Griff Hodson, Director of Environmental Services and Plant Operations, was one of the hospital employees to which Koehler was referring. Hudson was present for a large portion of the class' morning work.

"Part of our mission is partnering with the community," Hodson said. "I was put in touch with Tom [Koehler], ... so we sat down and visited a little bit, and he said this would be... great training for his class."

Hodson said that the enclosure would serve two purposes: first it would form an enclosure to divert traffic during the upcoming hospital MRI remodeling, and then would be rearranged to divert traffic during the installation of the emergency room's new sliding glass door.

The wood panels, like the students' lessons in construction, would be vital for future maintenance operations at the hospital. After the sliding glass doors were installed, the panels would be removed and set aside for future remodeling projects.

Students started work by cutting each part of the soon-to-be walls individually, which allowed them to focus and master each step of the process. Once all the two-by-fours were cut, students assembled wall sections of various lengths during class periods at the high school.

Assembly of the crucial enclosure was delayed briefly by poor weather the week leading up to Thanksgiving, but when storms seemed to clear on the 30th, students set out to spend the entire day assembling the structure.

The Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital, which donated all of the materials for the project, also gave the hard-working students a free hot lunch in the hospital cafeteria to thank them for their work.

Woods Class student Hudson Roling said their current project, which has a deadline of Dec. 1, was their class' first big project, and by far his favorite. With this project's completion date on the near horizon, Roling noted that, "Hopefully with this project, we get more projects from people around town."

Although the project only lasted three weeks, the six-member Woods Class has clearly learned invaluable lessons about construction. Working as a team on Monday morning, the walls started going up without a hitch, and every student went about his business with a smile on his face.