I had to plan, organize, and carry out a service project as a requirement for becoming an Eagle Scout. For my project, I worked with a local state park to build an outdoor classroom area consisting of 10 benches, 1 large instructional table, a gravel surface, and 3 directional signs to the classroom location.
All together, I was able to fundraise over $1200, contribute more than 200 service hours to the park, and provide an excellent outdoor educational space for my town's state park.
This is one of the directional signs that were placed around the entrance and parking lot for the park. Local sign shop recommended the use of western red cedar for the sign wood and recommended letter sizing based on viewing distances. Sign was designed in Adobe Illustrator and was created using a CnC router at the Downingtown STEM Academy.
This picture shows volunteers working to install the instructional table at the front of the classroom. The holes for the table were dug using a gas powered post hole digger. The table was carefully lowered into the holes and then were filled with quick-setting concrete. The table had to be leveled and weed mat was placed down below the pebble wash ground that the park requested.
Before holes could start being dug, the proper spacing for each of the benches had to be determined. Using tape measures and a string set at the middle of the pre-existing information kiosk, a radius was marked using spray paint. A radial shape was used so that the audience could all be facing the instructor without having to turn if they were sitting on one of the outside rows.
Using the CnC Router at the Downingtown STEM Academy's Prototyping Lab.
Meeting with the park manager to go over details of the project.
The components of the project (benches, instructional table, and directional signs) were designed in Autodesk Inventor. The designs were annotated, dimensioned, and compiled into this PDF. These drawings were critical during the first stages of the project where all of the wood was cut and assembled.
The final details for this project are as follows:
209.16 total volunteer hours
$1,512.60 were fundraised for the total cost of the project
27 total volunteers
10 benches, 1 instructional table, and 3 directional signs
1 (completely filled) 3-inch report binder
5 trips to Home Depot, 2 trips to Lowes, 3 trips to Sherwin-Williams Paints, and 3 trips to various other local stores
39 50-lb bags of quick-setting concrete
More than 150 feet of pressure treated wood