Carpentry students recycle old furniture into carnival games
Carpentry students worked their magic again this year, taking a pile of discarded office furniture and crafting it into an award-winning entry in the Eco-Carpentry Challenge in Boston.
Over the past two months, 22 sophomores and one senior took apart cabinets, tables and plexiglass wall hangings and reimagined them into two carnival games – Skeeball and Plinko.
On Thursday, their work was judged “Best Craftsmanship” in a competition against nine other schools held at the District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston.
“The students had a great time and our entry was swarmed with people all night playing our games and admiring the other items they had made,” said Carpentry Teacher Mark Whittier.
Students created wooden balls on lathes to play Skeeball and made pucks for Plinko featuring logos from the four professional New England sports teams.
A pile of discarded furniture was dropped off at Whittier a few months ago by The Furniture Trust, a non-profit organization with a mission to convert excess office furnishings and supplies into furniture and cash donations for local schools and nonprofits.
This is the fourth year Whittier students have participated. They have placed first and second in previous years.
The goals of the annual event are for students to develop creative carpentry skills while demonstrating their commitment to recycling by creating new projects from used furniture.
"It didn't all come together at once," said Sophomore Angelica Cintron. "We had to try a lot of different things to make it work. It was interesting."
Carpentry students who participated were: Ricky Flores, Ethan Burridge, Dylan Fraize, Jyrell Ruiz, Cody Hadley, Brendan Gallagher, Angelica Cintron, Nathan Charoux, Siarra Cronin, Jared Recillas, Angel Alvarado, Alanna Stafford, Max Ouellette, Tyler Wetherbee, Emily Wilson, Nicholas Glynn, Cody Littlefield, Adam Taschereau, Aristotle Campbell, Brian Skaff, and Killian Barry, all sophomores, and Desiree Michaud, a senior.
