Ringgold High students constructing building and wooden crosses for city
Students at Ringgold High School are learning what it’s like to build a storage structure, and will soon be able to see that structure displayed within the city for years to come.
On Thursday morning, March 9, students, faculty, and city officials gathered behind the construction lab at the school to look over the progress of a building that will soon serve a function for the city’s pool facility.
According to construction teacher Tim Elliot, students in his classes have been construction a building this semester as part of a partnership with city’s Parks and Recreation department.
“We are in the process of building a 16-by-16 storage building for the city of Ringgold to store the city pool furniture and accessories in when not being used,” Elliot said. “We’ve been building it out here behind our lab room. The students have done a lot of great work, and some of my older students have really worked hard to get it built.”
Parks and Recreation Director Stephen Middlebrooks and city maintenance man Dexter Coley have been taking the materials to the students on behalf of the city. When completed, the storage facility will be placed on Cotter Street next to the pool and Patriot Hall.
Employees of Lowe’s in Fort Oglethorpe were also on hand to see how well the company’s materials have been utilized.
“It’s a bigger building than I thought, and it looks like they’ve done some great work,” said Catoosa County Schools Superintendent Denia Reese.
In addition to the storage building, the classes have also been assisting with an effort to help with the city’s popular “Festival of Flags” celebration, which honors war veterans, by constructing more of the wooden crosses that hold the flags in place.
“A lot of them are done, but we’re still in the process of completing an additional 100 crosses for the veterans of Catoosa County,” Elliot said.
Former mayor Joe Barger, who spearheads the “Festival of Flags” event, also stopped by Thursday morning to thank the students for their great work.
“The building and the crosses look good. I’m proud of these kids,” Barger said.