To help provide for the community, the geometry in construction (GIC) class made 30 bunk beds for the Sleep in Heavenly Peace organization. 

The organization provides beds to children who do not have a bed of their own. The idea first made its way to the school when GIC teacher Gayle Piepho went to a community build for Sleep in Heavenly Peace. Piepho said that during the build she thought that she needed to find a way to bring it to the classroom. 

“Last summer and as I was doing it I was like how can we incorporate this into our geometry in construction program? I immediately texted [GIC teacher] Mr. Brown and Brian Reed, our coordinator, and said we need to figure out a way to do this,” Piepho said. 

The beds were built in February of 2022 and were done in the wood shop and outdoor construction space that the GIC class usually uses for their projects. In the two GIC classes there were eight groups of students working on either a top or bottom bunk. Sophomore Kamryn Beaton said that making the beds is an assembly line process. 

“We work in groups of four so our group of four is set with a specific task daily, so we finish that task and it works almost like an assembly line. So once we finish our project we pass it on to the next person and we get another bed to do our task [on],” Beaton said. 

The GIC class does a combination of geometry learning and construction application. Freshman Logan Schober said that what they learn in class has many applications when building the beds. 

“[The learning is] almost directly [applied], like the way that class is set up, we learn something and then go use it. I think pythagorean theorem is the biggest one, because you learn something in math and then you use that for the rest of the semester.,” Schober said. 

GIC teacher Mike Brown said that they plan to continue to help the organization next year, as there is an abundant need for more beds in the community. 

“The need right now is just under 20,000 beds in the St. Louis area so we are working actively to help support the cost of the bedding and the mattress and everything else,” Brown said. 

Piepho also said that she would like to continue this idea into next year and that she enjoyed getting to help her students provide for others and have fun while doing it. 

“It was really good to help the kids realize that there are kids that are a little less fortunate, that people sleep on the floor, something that we might take for granted, that we have a bed and pillow and mattress and blankets,” Piepho said. “I think it was fun for them to do something good and work together for that common good.” 

After the beds were delivered, Brown said he was able to show the students pictures of the kids who received them. He said that this was one of his favorite parts about making them, as well as the service aspect. 

“There’s several things I like about it, they’re very simple projects that they can be successful with but I think the biggest thing is just seeing the kids who receive the beds and the look on their faces and being able to show them the pictures of these kids sleeping on the floor that now get a chance to sleep on a bed is such a big deal. And I like the fact that they’re kind of into it and it’s a project they’re not doing for themselves, it’s something they’re doing for someone else,” Brown said. 

Freshman Ryan Stellhorn said that he loves being able to provide something for the children that they have not ever gotten to have access for. 

“Just the thought of children being able to get beds that they have never had before. Just the thought of them being happy just to get a bed, is just crazy,” Stellhorn said.