Fourteen unpainted wooden flamingoes lie in a corner of the wood shop across from the cafeteria. In different stages of construction, these flamingoes are made up of roughly-cut scrap wood marked with penciled lines and blotches of paint. Smaller pieces sit in stacks while the fully formed ones spread out against the blue, white, and black speckled floor.

Though not quite ready, these flamingos were waiting to make their debut throughout the school as a part of Visual Arts Teacher Nick Rupard’s Stagecraft class. Usually, the small group of students in the class are working away at sets for the fall play and spring musical, but this late in the year, they can focus on something less formal, which in this case is building flamingoes to “yard bomb” the school.

Rupard, with clear plastic goggles hung from the collar of his shirt, walks around the surprisingly large shop room — almost the length of the cafeteria across the way. Working with high schoolers taller than he is, Rupard helps to insert wooden dowel rods into the teardrop-shaped flamingo bodies.

Though the seeming randomness of the project is apparent, Rupard likes the Stagecraft class to continue to build as the year ends. “It’s a production-based class, and as a design student myself, I didn’t like having to read plays and then do a design on paper,” Rupard said. “That’s no fun. I like to keep myself busy and build things with them.”

This idea of a loosely structured class carries through to his other classes as well. His eighth grade class is given a 2×4 and instructed to build whatever they want with any other scrap wood they can find. Projects range from shoe racks to dog houses to benches.

On a recent Thursday at 11:55, the atmosphere of this class of eighth graders is incredibly energetic. Students compete to speak over each other and the buzzes, pounding, and whirring of the various shop equipment. Shouts like these fill the room: ““I’m gonna start drilling this!” “It’s 27 and a half, right?” and “Does anyone have the silver paint?”

While some bombard Rupard with questions and requests, others expertly manage their way around the large room — locating equipment and using different tools with ease. Even though it’s surprising to see groups of eighth graders operating intimidating-looking saws on their own, Rupard makes sure each kid is safe.

“I always teach the safety of the room,” Rupard said. “I teach them how to be responsible in the room using the saws, and then I have basic projects for them to get up and running. There’s a point where they know their own comfort level with it, and if they’re not comfortable, I can do it for them.” Early basic projects have included cutting boards and toolboxes.

As the class period winds down, Rupard begins the cleanup process. “If you’re not actively cleaning up, you’re disappointing me,” he said. “Don’t dissapoint me.” With Rupard’s encouragement, the eighth graders put their wood, paint, and tools back where they belong before they leave.

“I like shop class when I like what we’re doing,” eighth grader Sean Andrews said, “and I like what we’re doing right now.” Andrews is currently making a bench “for multiple people to sit on.”

A while after the room has been cleaned and emptied, the six students that make up Rupard’s high school woodshop class enter. Compared to the high-energy eighth graders, this smaller class brings a calmer and quieter tone, interrupted only by rap music played from a yellow and black radio. Working in groups of 2-3, they focus their efforts on a large cabinet, a bowl, and a sword.

Rupard said, “I pretty much just let them build anything they want.”

The similar-sized Stagecraft class has a similar vibe. While the high schoolers wait for some of the flamingoes to dry, they make Mother’s Day gifts, demonstrating their ability to utilize pieces of wood and tools comfortably, while Rupard jokes and talks along with them.

“Stagecraft is great, and I’ve learned a lot,” freshman Will Holtz said. “At the beginning, the tools were kind of intimidating, but now I know how to use almost everything in the shop room. I love having the ability to make things.”

Rupard enjoys the class in the same way his students do. “In Stagecraft, I’m as much of a student as I am a teacher,” Rupard said. “I just make stuff with them, and they tell me what to make.”

Rupard grew up on a farm in northern Indiana. He attended Indiana State University to major in history education, but after having been introduced to theater production, Rupard went to graduate school at Wayne State University to pursue scene design and theater technology.

In 2001, Rupard moved to Chicago and worked on set design for local theaters. Six years later, he got bored and discovered the opening at Parker for Auditorium Director. He held this job for five years and has worked as a teacher for both high school and middle for the past four.

Outside of school Rupard continues to work on set design. He has his own theater company, Quest Theatre Ensemble, that he started 15 years ago with his friends from college. As a resident designer and company member, Rupard helps put on 2-3 productions every year, for free.

“We believe art and theater should be accessible for everyone,” Rupard said. “The cost of ticket prices to go to the theater are absurd in this city. There are people who can’t afford to take their kids to the movies or to museums, so we decided to do it for free.”

Relying on donations of materials, some trash, and an open space in a church in Andersonville, Rupard oversees the set production, which often features life-sized paper-mache puppets. Actors dressed in black are attached to these figures, and as they move, the puppets move with them. “At Quest, it’s a spectacle-based theater,” Rupard said. “As opposed to telling the story, we show the story.”

As his last class finishes at the end of the day, Rupard motions to his brownish-purple v-neck t shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes, all of which are covered in chalky sawdust. “And this is how I go home every night,” Rupard says, “but I love working with everyone and just making stuff everyday — I’m a tinkerer.”