STARKVILLE – When Starkville High School junior Michael Sullivan learned his carpentry class would be building a mobile hunting shelter to help special needs and disabled people enjoy the outdoors, he thought of his sister and how often she encounters places that aren’t made for her.
“My sister is disabled, so I really thought it was doing a lot of good because when we go out to parks and other stuff, a lot of places aren’t handicap accessible,” he said. “I think it’s important because they already have enough struggles going on as it is, and a lot of places and communities don’t really offer a lot of things for them.”
Sullivan and other students taking carpentry classes at the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District’s Millsaps Career and Technology Center this semester are converting an old camper trailer into a mobile hunting stand for Hope Outdoors, a nonprofit that helps people with special needs experience the outdoors. The structure will include a wheelchair accessible ramp, a small back porch with double doors as well as heating and electricity.
The idea is to make the hunting stand both accessible and comfortable, construction and carpentry teacher Benjamin Carr told The Dispatch.
“We set it up where we can put a generator on the front, so it can be wired for lights or if they want a coffee pot,” he said. “Whatever it is, they’ll have access to that and also a spot up front for new propane tanks, so that they’ll be able to heat up that area as well.”
Carr volunteered for the Calhoun/Webster chapter of Hope Outdoors growing up. While he wasn’t old enough to join a hunt at the time, he remembers the impact the organization had on people who can’t easily wake up and go hunting or fishing.
When he learned the chapter needed help constructing the stand, he knew it would be a good opportunity for his students.
“It’s community service. It looks good on a resume, and it’s something that they get to take with them for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Cory Parish, director of the Calhoun/Webster chapter, said many of the people the organization works with are wheelchair-bound, making it difficult to enjoy the typical outdoor activities.
“But with this shooting house we’re building and the way we’re building it, it will be big enough for them to either take their own electric wheelchairs in and be able to move around … or we have a track chair that they can drive up in there,” he told The Dispatch.
Often, it’s a life-changing experience for the campers the nonprofit works with, Parish said.
“It’s just the excitement of being outdoors, and mainly, the excitement of the one-on-one conversations with hunters,” he said. “A lot of times, they don’t get to experience stuff like that, so when they do come, a smile is on their face.”
The project also gives students a chance to take their carpentry skills to the next level. So far, students have installed a floor and walls, Carr said, and the next phase is the roof. He expects the stand to be finished by the time deer season starts.
It’s really a step-by-step tutorial of how to build a residential home, but on a smaller scale, he said.
“Part of what we teach, we start with some safety and other things, but then we move into floor systems, wall systems and roofing systems, so basically teaching these kids how to come out of the class and know how to build a house,” Carr said.
Carr said welding students also pitched in some help by removing the old camper components from the trailer before bolting the floor system to it.
For junior Jaden Gaire, who hopes to pursue a career in residential carpentry, the project has been an eye opener for how he can use his technical skills to help other people.
“When I signed up for this class, I didn’t have much of a clue about what the curriculum was going to be, but even this is really helpful in trying to learn about residential carpentry,” he said. “It was really exciting to know that we were able to get out there and help the community and an organization.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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