Do you need to have a garden shed built?
Perhaps you want to add a picnic table or firewood shed to your back yard?
Then you are in luck.
As Rhett Larsen (PAA 20 Teacher) explains, “The Kipling School Practical and Applied Arts (PAA) 20 Program is teaming up with Kipling Home Hardware.
“If somebody wants to have something like a shed or bench built, they can contact either myself or Lindon Walker at Kipling Home Hardware and discuss what they want to have done.
“That person will then buy the lumber needed for the project through the Home Hardware and the PAA 20 students will provide the labour to build it for free.”
Larsen says that this partnership came about after he began looking for projects that his students could build, and says that the partnership with Kipling Home Hardware benefits everyone involved.
“Since I began teaching PAA 20 this year, I’ve been looking for different projects that the students could take on that would benefit people in the community too.
“With this arrangement, Kipling Home Hardware benefits from the sale of the lumber and that money stays in the community. And the person having the work done also benefits by having their project built without having to pay for labor needed to build it.”
Lindon Walker (Dealer/Owner – Kipling Home Hardware) agrees, adding that the customer is also able to purchase the materials for a ‘package price’.
“When Rhett (Larsen) first came in and talked to me about finding projects for his students to build, I showed him some of the ‘Backyard Projects’ that Home Hardware has available.
“The students went through the projects and picked out the ones that they wanted to build. Then, I quoted them a package price for the materials that would be used on each of the projects they’d chosen.
“When a customer chooses one of these projects, they purchase the materials at that package price. I will then bundle the materials for the project up and take it over to where the students will be building it.”
Walker points out that he sees a number of benefits flowing out of this partnership.
“This is a fantastic deal for the customer. Not only are they able to buy the materials they need at a good price, but they can have the project built without having to pay for the labor.
“This also draws attention to some of the Backyard Projects and materials that Home Hardware offers. These are good projects which are often underutilized.
“And most importantly, this is a good educational opportunity for the students. It gets them building things, without having to worry about finding ways to pay for the materials. But at the same time, they learn about the cost of materials and how to go about pricing out a project.
“So, this arrangement will allow them to learn several different skills that will translate into any work they do as a builder later on.”
The first project being built with this partnership is a backyard gazebo for Kipling Kidcare.
Jordi Griffin (Kipling Kidcare) says that this will allow the daycare/preschool to provide something for the children in their care, that they may not have been able to provide otherwise.
“We really need to provide some shade in our backyard. There is a large tree back there right now. But that tree might have to come down and there is really no other shade out there.
“A gazebo is something that we have been saving up for. But other priorities were making that difficult.
“So, when Rhett approached us with this idea, we were really excited.
“Rhett helped us to pick out a project and brought the quote for the materials back to us, so that we could take it to the Board and see if it was feasible.
“As it turned out, the Board was able to approve the project.
“In fact, we had priced out the materials for a gazebo that wasn’t as large as this one is. And our estimate for the materials that project would have required were over double the price for the materials used in this project.”
Griffin adds that the Kipling & District Lions Club also contributed to this project.
“Once the Board approved the project, we went over to the Hardware and paid for a portion of the materials. We had originally thought that the gazebo would be built to sit in one spot permanently.
“But we found out that it could sit on a wooden floor/deck. That would mean that it could be moved. So, Rhett approached the Lions Club and asked if they would be willing to help cover the cost of this floor – and they very generously agreed to do that.”
Along with the projects that the students take on through this arrangement, Larsen says that his class is also busy building items from recycled materials that they hope to sell.
“We also have a few projects…such as a firewood shed…that we are building to sell. Because the cost of lumber is so high, we’re using pallets and recycled lumber to build these sheds. So far, we’ve built and sold one and have another one to build that is already pre-sold.
“The hope is that we can earn enough money by building and selling things like these sheds, that we can buy different materials and build other projects.”
However, Larsen says that his students also take great pride in doing these projects.
“These various projects are very important for the students. It gives them something ‘real’ to work on. And in the case of the gazebo, they know that it is something that a lot of people are going to see and appreciate.
My students take each of these projects very seriously and are highly motivated, because they know that they are building these things for someone.”
