For a group of students at Gravenhurst High School there is nothing more rewarding than building something that will roll down the road.

Two groups of students in two different transportation courses at GHS built a box trailer slightly larger than four-by-eight-feet with a portable canoe rack commissioned by principal Rick Sellon.

The metal shop students worked one hour a day for four months to fabricate the trailer built from parts paid for by Sellon, explained teacher Doug Wallis. The project was started by Grade 10 students and finished by the Grade 11 class.

Wallis said the metal shop students used various mathematical principles to properly engineer the trailer, and used electrical principles to wire the trailer lighting to work off the vehicle.

“They had to place the axle six inches back from the centre so there was perfect alignment for tracking, so they had to learn some geometry,” he said, noting triangulation was used in the framing. “They used simple mathematics to figure out the amount of materials they needed, starting from a drawing.”

Wallis said all but one student had never welded before.

“It was a wonderful learning experience for them,” he said. “It’s so exciting and worthwhile for these boys to work on real projects that actually go down the road.”

The students also responded to the community by repairing skate aids for the Gravenhurst Centennial Centre. There are also plans to repair garbage lids for the municipality and build a functioning rototiller from three a little worse for wear, for Communities in Bloom.