PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA)-On Tuesday, students, and staff at Wendell Krinn Technical High School in New Port Richey, spent the day building 20 picnic tables to help with social distancing.  

“So we’re actually building picnic tables today to create three outdoor classrooms so that teachers can take students outside,” said Principal Dr. Christopher Dunning. “It’s obviously a good thing, this time with everything that’s going on, to be safer. It also provides another learning environment for students to stay, enjoy, and allows them to spread out.”

The outdoor seating will not only be used for classes but the additional seating will provide extra cafeteria space when school opens on Aug. 24.

According to Dunning, Wendell Krinn received help with their project from Sleep in Heavenly Peace, an organization of volunteers who build and donate bunk beds for families in need. 

“So basically, we have wooden bolts and screws and so we’re cutting out each piece cutting the patterns and then assembling them, because that’s the cheapest way to go. To buy the picnic tables is hundreds and hundreds of dollars. So, we’re doing them ourselves,” said Dunning.

Wendell Krinn Technical High School is taking other additional steps to keep students safe this year, including regular cleaning of shared spaces, optional online learning, and one-way traffic patterns in the school’s hallways.

“We actually are putting decals on the ground that actually show the students a certain direction to go upstairs and downstairs so that they’re going one flow, they won’t ever come across someone following coming the other direction.”