Middle schoolers design, construct doghouses in architecture course

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Seventh graders at William Penn Middle School in the Indianapolis Public Schools district have traded textbooks for tools in their green architecture course aiming to teach science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills.

They’re designing and building doghouses for canines in need, and the students are doing it from scratch. Students learn measuring, reading blueprints and working safely with tools, among other tasks.

Once finished, the handmade creations will be donated to Friends of Indianapolis Dogs Outside, an organization that helps dogs across central Indiana.

Seventh grader Skye Duncan said Monday, “Building this doghouse is really exciting to do with your friends and stuff as a group. It is a lot of work, because it is hard for me to measure a little bit, but at the same time, I know it’s going to be good.”

Seventh grader Ezra-Nehemiah Ducker said a lot went into learning how to build something from the ground up, but that he loved doing it. “You need to learn how to use a saw, get the perfect measurements using different tools, drilling, hammering, there’s a lot of stuff you need to learn.”

Ducker says he’s excited to start building more at home and proud to have skills where he can contribute his community. “That I can help people by my creations. Also, if I can build stuff, I don’t really have to buy stuff. Say I see a $50 table. I can just buy supplies and that’ll come to $30 so that’ll just save money.”

The students are building five doghouses, and over 65 students have contributed to the project in some form. STEM teacher Luc Sproles said the work helps students see the power of giving back through science and design. “We’ve done a lot of demonstration and then hands-on practice in the classroom so that I know that when we get to here, I don’t have to hold their hand every step of the way. They really do have the skills and the abilities to run this entire project by themselves.”

Some students also brought in old T-shirts to make dog toys.

The teacher said, “Just seeing them work together with each other has been really awesome. For them to be able to put what they’re learning into action and help their community is really what William Penn, a STEM school, is all about.”

Sproles said he’s happy that the skills they learn with this project is something they can carry into their everyday lives in the future.

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