PHS students create space shuttle, mural, satellite

Walking through Powell High School, you’re guaranteed to see some unusual sights — a submarine, a dragon, a bear or a wolf. And at certain times during the day, you can watch doors open on a space shuttle.

As the latest collaborative art project at PHS, the shuttle is the most ambitious one yet.

“It just took it to a new level,” said Adam Hartman, a PHS senior who worked on the shuttle.

Like many students, he’s always admired the art projects displayed throughout the school.

“But I think this is the coolest one,” Hartman said. “I don’t think that’s because I’m biased. I think it’s actually the coolest one.”

The shuttle itself — built to one-seventh scale — is a work of art. With meticulous detail, students modeled the shuttle off real spacecraft, incorporating details from Discovery, Endeavor and Atlantis.

They started by building a wooden frame in September. Over the months that followed, the teens spent over a thousand hours creating the shuttle, paying close attention to each component.

“This is a year-long process, with 60 to 70 kids involved with it,” said Jim Gilman, the PHS art teacher who guides students through the large-scale projects.

Students drew from skills they had learned in past art projects, said Justin Porter, a PHS senior. “Every project, we learn something new,” he added.

In addition to the shuttle, students painted a huge mural surrounding the space. The mural includes a haiku: “From a window in a metal shell far from home I see my whole world,” written by Jacinta Schneider, a PHS senior.

Students also created a satellite, which is suspended in the air next to the shuttle.

“It was its own separate project,” Gilman said.

Even a clock on the wall was incorporated, as PHS art student Ashtin Decker transformed it into a moon.

Those who devoted hours to the shuttle and its various elements truly appreciate the amount of work that went into each detail.

“I spent a lot of time on it, and a lot of kids just walk by it and don’t really think twice about it,” said Nick Mundy, a PHS senior. “I’ll catch myself talking about it outside of school. It’s actually something I’m proud of doing.”

A display case built by PHS woodworking students features memorabilia from actual shuttle missions, including commemorative patches from Columbia’s first and final missions. An American flag flown on a NASA research plane — along with an astronaut taking a selfie with the flag — also is on display.

Each item was donated by online followers who have tracked the shuttle’s progress through a forum that Gilman is part of. The PHS shuttle project has drawn 150,000 views online.

Throughout the school year, members of the online group have shared advice, encouragement and a variety of donations — including paying for the entire $1,300 budget and buying a T-shirt for everyone involved.

Someone sent a commemorative GI Joe of Robert L. Crippen, the very first space shuttle pilot. Though it was still in the box in mint condition, they insisted that it be displayed with the shuttle.

“The amount of input and financial support from the online community has been phenomenal,” Gilman said.

The PHS students had gained an online following with last year’s submarine project. When Gilman announced the shuttle project, “people were so excited about it and instantly started sending money and tools,” Hartman said.

“One day a box just showed up with like 30 glue guns,” said Brett Gilman.

“Which we used a lot,” Hartman added.

Brett Gilman, who is Jim Gilman’s son, took a lead role with the mechanical and electronic components of the shuttle, spending hours writing code. He programmed it so the shuttle’s doors open every 87 minutes throughout the school day, then every five and a half hours starting at 3:15 p.m.

“It’s still opening and closing [at night], so the doors don’t warp one way or another, but it’s much slower,” Brett Gilman said.

He learned a lot about programming through the process. 

“It’s a very realistic application for robotics,” Brett Gilman said.

Folks in the online community helped him write code and solve problems along the way.

Brett Gilman said it was fun to work alongside his dad on the project.

“We’d come in on weekends, and I’d program and he’d do something with the shuttle,” he said.

His dad also encouraged him to keep going when he encountered problems.

“He pushed me a lot,” Brett Gilman said. “When something goes wrong with a program, it doesn’t tell you what’s wrong with it — and those are the worst problems to have, when it should be working but it’s not. It’d be really, really frustrating … but he’d push me, and I’d work for hours and hours and finally get it.”

Jim Gilman and the students set high goals to get every detail right — even things that you can’t see while staring up at the shuttle.

The school’s custodian, Mike Brooks, noticed a crease while he was in a lift above the shuttle.

“It’s nothing you’ll ever see in your entire life unless you’re in a scissor lift, looking down on it, and [Jim] Gilman sent me with some tiles and a ladder to go fix it,” Mundy said.

“There were a lot of us who were like, ‘Gilman, you better put mirrors up there,’” Hartman added. “The whole bottom layer where there are thousands of tiles — there were so many people working on it.”

Students worked on the shuttle during different class periods, and Hartman said there were a lot of times when they’d finish something or fix part of it.

“It was really nice,” he said, adding that he appreciated everyone who helped with the project.

Woodworking, welding, robotics, graphic arts and textile students have been involved with the shuttle. Students used skills from other classes, including writing, history, science, mathematics and CAD.

“There was a lot of CAD,” Hartman said.

Mundy said it was cool that “there was something for everybody.”

“Whether it was painting or designing, I mean, pretty much you name it, it had something to do with the shuttle project,” he said.

As with past large-scale projects, the shuttle is displayed at Powell High School. To watch a video of the shuttle doors opening and closing, visit the Powell High School Art page on Facebook by clicking here.