Holy Rosary students build a ‘tiny house,’ 45 minutes at a time

Soon, someone living unsheltered will have a new, albeit small, roof over her/his head, thanks to Holy Rosary School seventh- and eighth-grade students in West Seattle. They have been building a “tiny house” – the small structures that have gradually replaced tents, when available and donated – at the city’s sanctioned encampments. It’s been a one-class-period-at-a-time project, taught by wood-shop teacher Mike Ritscher, so they’ve been working on it for months. This week, we stopped by while the students were painting the tiny house:

With the school year almost over, the tiny-house project is too. In a little over two weeks, LIHI – which operates encampments including Camp 2nd Chance in West Seattle – will pick it up. The construction materials, by the way, are from Alki Lumber.

11 Replies to "Holy Rosary students build a 'tiny house,' 45 minutes at a time"

  • dcn May 25, 2018 (1:14 pm)

    This is awesome. Great skills for students to learn and for a great cause.

  • waikikigirl May 25, 2018 (1:22 pm)

    You young adults are the BEST, someone (family) will greatly appreciate having a roof over their head(s)! 

  • HRSParent May 25, 2018 (2:46 pm)

    What a great hands-on engineering and construction project for the students.  It will inspire many.  So thankful for our STEM+ school!

  • Forest May 25, 2018 (5:05 pm)

    Excellent cause and use of time, but I why are the action photos so obviously staged? There’s just no way that half a dozen student volunteers crowded in and around a tiny house could be applying a first coat of paint  all at the same without getting a few drops of paint on themselves, their new clothes, or even their work tools and drop cloths.  Just wondering . . .

    • WSB May 25, 2018 (6:16 pm)

      Um, no, sorry, they weren’t staged – Patrick took those photos himself and he does NOT stage photos. Sometimes people WANT to stage an “action shot” and he’s rather adamant about “no, we don’t do that, just keep doing what you’re doing.” – TR

    • HRSParent II May 25, 2018 (7:57 pm)

      You didn’t see them when they were done. . . 

    • Hrsparent3 May 25, 2018 (9:01 pm)

      I am a parent at the school but my kids are still little so not working on the house. However my kids play on the playground most days after school so I have seen it grow and develop over the last couple of months. There is nothing phony or staged about this project. There are small additions of work done every time I see it. Clearly they are working on it slowly and methodically. Each improvement is met with so much excitement by my kids who have been tracking the progress with pride and appreciation. Not sure why Forest feels the need to make false accusations and try to diminish the work of the kids and their teacher.  Why assume the worst? Says more about you than the people working on this project. 

  • Former HR parent May 25, 2018 (9:54 pm)

    By the way, the kids did NOT use any power tools. Hand saws, hammers and nails, etc.  And the photo of the two girls painting the outside in their school uniforms just makes me nervous; I would have been covered in paint splatters! The kids at HRS are well-disciplined and respectful.  Good job!

  • Forest May 26, 2018 (12:35 am)

    I apologize for thinking the photo appears staged, which would best explain to me (speaking as someone who painted houses during college breaks) the absence of any paint drips or smudged clothes in a photo of several young people all painting the same tiny house at the same time.  My thanks to WSB for noting its policy against staged photos. 

  • dsa May 26, 2018 (1:44 am)

    This is a fabulous learning experience.  I hope it spreads.

  • HRS Parent May 29, 2018 (8:34 am)

    One of these girls is my daughter and believe me, the paint is all over the clothes. I do not care and she finds these pant drips very cool. For an excellent cause! 

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