Many high school drafting students would not expect to be able to design a structure for their peers. However, when sophomore Darik Dudley walked into his Drafting 2 class during the second week of school, he discovered that was exactly what he would be doing.

Dudley and other Drafting 2 and 3 students will be designing an open-air, 50-person shelter by the restored prairie behind the football stadium. The shelter will be made out of wood and steel and house several picnic tables.

“It’s going to be pretty cool,” Dudley said.

The Novice Woodworking class, along with the Westar Energy Green Team, will start building the shelter and tables in mid-October.

Science teacher Julie Schwarting said she has been looking forward to the shelter since the project started.

“As anyone who’s been out [in the prairie] knows, sometimes it gets super hot or sometimes the sun comes out or it starts raining when we’re out in the field,” Schwarting said. “It’ll provide us a shelter from the elements so we can organize our supplies and have a place to sit down and contemplate what’s going on … It’ll be fantastic.”

If the shelter is not completed by the end of this fall, it will be finished next spring.

The prairie was restored in 2013 to act as an experiment for high school and KU students. Schwarting hopes to create a paved path to the prairie so that more people can access the area.

Drafting and woodworking teacher Michael Williams got his students involved in the creation of the shelter to give them real-world experience.

“It also gives them a taste of something that they can decide if that’s what they want to do,” Williams said. “[If it’s not what they] want to do, they can move on to something else.”

Sophomore Kai Phoenix, a student in Williams’ Woodworking class, anticipates the shelter becoming a popular area.

“It’s going to be another gathering place, like the cafeteria area, for students,” Phoenix said.

All of Schwarting’s classes have been to the prairie to make observations and collect data. She hopes that students outside of her classes will also take advantage of the prairie and its new pavilion.

“I’m excited for art or maybe photography students to go out,” Schwarting said. “I encourage anybody to come up with ideas and ways to use it.”