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Parkersburg South students complete boat project

A completed boat, painted in Parkersburg South High School colors, sits in teacher Carl Brainard’s classroom Friday. The project took more than a year and a half to complete and was worked on by more than 100 South students. (Photo by Michael Erb)

PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg South High School students spent nearly two years building a boat, and on Friday celebrated the end of the school year with the completion of their project.

The boat project, which began in early 2016, was part of the school’s science, technology, engineering and math, or S.T.E.M., curriculum and was spearheaded by teacher Carl Brainard. It took more than a year and a half to complete, with more than 100 students working on the project at different times and was funded in part through the Governor’s S.T.E.M. Initiative mini-grant program.

Brainard said the boat was assembled upside down as students built a frame, then shaped boards to fit the curved hull. Students learned a variety of woodworking techniques to both fit the design and to make sure the boat was waterproof.

“We probably went through enough lumber for two boats,” Brainard said.

The boat was designed by Walter Simmons, a boat builder living in Maine, who sent the class blueprints and technical manuals, he said.

Parkersburg South High School sophomores Steven Snider and Levi Davis sand the bottom of a boat being built in teacher Carl Brainard’s class. The boat, which was completed Friday, was designed by a boat builder in Maine but was built by students at South. (Photo Provided)

“When I first saw it, I didn’t know what I was looking at,” said freshman Ryan Yates, who Brainard said often volunteered to spend extra hours working on the project.

“We’ve put a lot of time into it. Every since I got here, I’ve been working on it,” said freshman Trey Vierling. “It took us a long time to paint it, too.”

All of the students said the hardest part of the project was getting the boards to curve to the shape of the boat.

“It was hard to bend the wood to where we needed it,” Yates said. “It was difficult and we broke a few things.”

The students also found themselves up against the clock as the end of the 2016-17 school year approached. Once the boat was built, it still had to be sealed and painted. Even the painting took nearly three weeks to complete, students said.

Parkersburg South High School freshman Ryan Yates cuts the contours of the side seats during construction of a S.T.E.M. project boat in teacher Carl Brainard’s class. The boat was completed Friday, the last day of the school year. (Photo Provided)

“When it got close to the end of the year, I didn’t think we would get it done,” Yates said. “But we got it finished. It was pretty exciting.”

The boat, painted in South colors, will be docked with the Parkersburg South Crew Team boats on the Little Kanawha River. Though a few details still have to be finished, the project is for the most part completed.

“I think it looks pretty good,” said Vierling. “It’s nice.”

“It feels good to know you accomplished something that someone will enjoy and that will be used for many, many years,” said freshman Alex Daniel.

“I’m pleased. Honestly it turned out better than I thought it would,” Brainard said. “I just hope it holds water.”

PSHS Principal Betsy Patterson said the project has taught students not only how to work with wood and follow a design, it also has given them first-hand experience in completing a project, working as a team, and showing discipline in the face of a difficult task.

“They don’t realize it now, but they have learned life skills and job skills. This was good training for the work force,” she said, adding technical courses such as these show students the need for skilled laborers.

“It is becoming a lost art, but not a lost need,” she said. “We have fewer people qualifying in these fields, but there is still a demand.”

For Brainard, the boat is a good endcap to a more than 30-year career of teaching students how to build things. Brainard, who last year was selected as one of 10 West Virginia teachers to receive the Arch Coal award, this year announced his retirement. Friday marked the last day of classes for him as well as his students.

“This was something on my bucket list to do with the kids,” Brainard said. “It’s not on my list anymore.”

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