PALISADE, Colo. — Construction, homebuilding and community service are not just adult endeavors.

Four determined Mt. Garfield Middle School outgoing eighth graders are proving that.

Five weeks before the school year ended, Tahverle Hodges, Andrea Lopez, Joslyn Orellana and Lacy Townsend were sitting in Kevin Elisha’s Tech Ed enrichment class when an idea popped into Lopez’s head.

Inspired by a big piece of wood propped up in Elisha’s woodworking area, Lopez proposed a grand idea.

“We should build a playhouse,” the three others recall her saying.

While fellow classmates came up with wooden coin banks, coat racks, etc. — smaller projects — the four girls jumped on the idea of building an outdoor shed-size children’s playhouse.

With limited construction abilities — “I knew how to hammer, but not good,” Townsend said — the four girls enthusiastically took their idea to Elisha.

“When they first proposed it, I was worried,” the longtime Tech Ed teacher said.

Elisha is used to kids proposing wild ideas in his class. Culling the good ones from the impractical ones is part of his job, he said.

But the girls were persistent and motivated; best of all, they decided to build it for a needy Palisade woman who is raising her three small grandchildren.

“It’s not a cheap project,” Elisha warned the girls, and the school did not have money in the budget for the materials needed.

Dogged in their pursuit, the girls took to the phones and called local home building suppliers. Many business couldn’t help citing budget and expense issues. Though dejected, the four wouldn’t give up.

Besides, “we already told the (Palisade) family,” Hodges said.

Finally, the calls paid off...

“When 84 Lumber said they would donate, we started screaming,” Orellana said.

The four friends have had to learn every aspect of construction — the economics, drawing up plans, time management, the actual constructing, power tools, safety, materials management, and more.

Plans call for a 6-foot-by-6-foot, gabled roof playhouse with asphalt shingles; two windows; a Dutch door — all painted to match the family’s main house, which is grayish blue with slate blue trim.

“It’s going to be really sturdy when we’re done,” Elisha said.

When the idea was first floated, the girls thought such a project would be a cinch.

“Oh yeah ... I thought we could be done with it in a day,” Townsend laughed.

“I thought a week,” Hodges said.

With under a month of school left, the girls put in extra time during lunch hours, before and after school, and teacher work days to build the playhouse.

School is now out for the summer, and the girls are more than a third of the way done. They are committed to coming in during summer break to finish the community service project, as they call it. And Elisha, whom the girls have heaped praise on for his patience and support, is also committed to coming in during break to help his students.

“These kids have never once complained and haven’t had anything less than enthusiasm for the project,” he said.

The girls’ goal is to have it finished and installed in the Palisade family’s backyard before the new school year starts.

Reach Tracy Dvorak at tdvorak@gjfreepress.com.

The students wish to thank the following donors: • 84 Lumber - for most of the building supplies • Sherwin Williams - for the paint • Home Depot - for a $50 gift card • Mt. Garfield Middle School faculty - $50 in cash