Tiny house, big dream! Chautauqua, Rutherford students converting school bus into tiny home

PANAMA CITY — What once was a dream parked on a Bay County school's campus is now on track to become a goal to combat housing insecurity.

Chautauqua Charter School and Rutherford High School's Construction Academy have teamed up to take on the district's first school-bus-to-tiny-house conversion project.

This project aims to provide temporary housing to visiting volunteers to the charter school, as well as an opportunity to bring Chautauqua's students with differing abilities and Rutherford students together to strengthen their skills. The two schools will work together throughout the following school year to complete the tiny house by later this year.

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The tiny home will have a kitchen with a refrigerator and outlets for a microwave or a hot plate. It will sleep up to six people with two bunk beds and a pull-out sofa. It also will have air conditioning, hot water on demand, wastewater tanks and multiple storage options.

The build will cost about $10,000 and will be funded by various grants.

A dream come true

Jason Rodgers, instructor of the construction academy, said his students instantly jumped on the project when he told them about it.

"When they dropped off (the bus), they went inside, and just, they couldn't stop them. You know, they were all over it," Rodgers said. "They ripped it out, gutted it out in just a little over a week's time."

Finding a bus for the project was easy, with Chautauqua having a spare on campus, said Director Cynthia McCauley. The district had given Chautauqua the bus when it first opened and it originally was used as a classroom.

"I have to say when we started the school, that was actually the first up-to-code classroom we had because it really wasn't much of a code," McCauley said. "We knocked out the back window and put an air conditioner in it, put everybody in the seats while we were working on the schoolhouse. And that's how we initially had it."

The charter school sees visitors from around the world, so McCauley said she had bigger dreams for the bus.

It wasn't until last year that school officials sought out Rodgers to help realize that dream.

"We have waited and dreamed for years. It's been in the back of our mind for years and it slowly started to move forward and then with Mrs. Sharon (Michalik) and Mr. Rodgers, it all just came together, like a lightning bolt with excitement," McCauley said.

Students learn welding, carpentry

The construction academy students started work last week, gutting the bus from front to back. Rodgers said they fixed all of the rough spots, replaced the flooring, replaced the windows and resealed them.

His students have been using every skill they learned in class, from welding the frames to using their carpentry skills.

Sophomore student Bryan Lackey has been working with Rodgers and his classmates to remove the old handicapped chair and blast it down to the bare metal. He said he is looking forward to seeing the outcome.

"Every day, I've been excited to come to construction," Lackey said. "I mean, I enjoy demolition and all that kind of stuff. Getting to tear things apart, start a project, and then, of course, getting to go back and put it back in and piece it all back together. I'm really excited."

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For some students, the project is a lot more than meets the eye. Junior Orpheus Powers said it's a way to connect with his sister.

"Working on this bus does mean a lot to me because my sister is mentally disabled as well, as well as the kids who this bus is for," Powers said. "I'm working on it, and it's just been a delight to be able to help people like that."

Along the way, he said he has strengthened his skills by reworking the wiring on the bus.

"I've been into that kind of stuff my entire life because my dad's an electrician, electrical engineer," Powers said. "We have a lot of electronics in our house. I'm the kind of person to take everything apart without realizing it and putting it back together. I've become very familiar with how wires work and just general electricity."

Moving forward

As his hard-working students continue the project, Rodgers said he is proud to see them excited. He said it doesn't matter what task he asks of them, they always try their best and help out.

"If you ask them to do something, they'll get it done," Rodgers said. "And I couldn't be more proud of them, especially of juniors and seniors who've been in the program for a couple of years. They really know how to get things done."

McCauley said it's been amazing to see what Rodgers and his students have done so far with the bus. During the summer, her students will work on the bus until the two schools can join together.

The ultimate goal of the project, McCauley said, is the lesson the students and others can take from the rebuild, which is learning to live sustainably and helping others.

"I hope it's an example to everybody, whether you have a disability or you do not that you can learn to live simply," McCauley said. "You can learn to share this planet in a sustainable way. You can do with less so that others can have some good."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Students at Bay County schools turning school bus into a tiny home