Bulldogs to auction doghouses at Homecoming

Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2009

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Engineering and architecture students practiced the basics, like taking down accurate measurements, while constructing their doghouses.

Engineering and architecture students practiced the basics, like taking down accurate measurements, while constructing their doghouses.

Engineering and architecture students practiced the basics, like taking down accurate measurements, while constructing their doghouses.Precision was crucial since materials were limited.Susan Doring, who guided several classes in the contest, handled the power saw for her students.Doring's students had to maneuver their building materials carefully so as not to disturb desks or other classes' projects.Students divided into groups to work on different parts of their doghouse -- floor, walls and roof.Doring's students found design ideas online and then roughed out the particulars so they could calculate the size of their doghouse and make a materials list.

This week’s 20th annual Homecoming celebration at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School includes a lot of school spirit, a little ingenuity and a touch of philanthropy.

In lieu of a parade of floats at Friday night’s game, the Bulldogs will display students’ creativity and handiwork with designer doghouses, which they will auction to benefit the Lexington Humane Society.

“We just wanted to contribute to the (humane) society and help it out as much as we could,” said Student Council president and senior Greg Hymas.

The Student Council is sponsoring the contest, which drew 14 entries from school organizations and classes. Potential buyers can see the doghouses in person and bid at the football game.

The goal was to combine a service project with school spirit, explained Student Council sponsor Beth McKenzie, who proposed the idea.

“A lot of people want to work really hard for the Humane Society,” she said. “This way, each club can make a doghouse that represents them.”

The Cultural Society, for instance, incorporated a pyramid, arches and mosaic tiles. The journalism class got crafty with découpage pages and images from past yearbooks. And the cheerleaders decked out their doghouse in pink in memory of one girl’s mother who recently died of cancer.

While some groups worked in home garages because of the size of their doghouses and paint fumes, others built their entries at school. Susan Doring guided several of her engineering and architecture classes through the process, from making materials lists to sawing lumber and nailing it all together.

“We looked at ideas on the computer for a design. We split up into groups and designated certain parts of the doghouse,” said sophomore Andrew Mills, head of one flooring team.

Whether working on the floor, walls or roof, the students practiced such skills as drawing, measuring and math.

“It’ll expand our knowledge of what we need to do in the future,” said 10th-grader Forrest Hellebusch, who also enjoyed the teamwork aspect.

Robert Harlamert, a senior, described his class’s entry as a bungalow with an offset roof.

“Some of us have taken architecture, so we know the basics of building houses,” he said. “We basically started from the bottom up.”

Greg, head of the Student Council, is also in one of Doring’s classes.

“Ours kind of looks like a log cabin. The roof is probably the coolest part. It’s a nice little overhang of shade for the dog,” he said.

“It’s a learning process that’s actually quite fun,” Greg added. “Just having to measure and cut and put it together has been more complicated than you might think.”