Students in the building construction program at the South Baldwin Center for Technology are no strangers to thinking outside of the box; literally. Most recently, they built three cabinets to house life jackets at local boat launches, in hopes of encouraging boaters to practice safe boating habits.

Robert Bullock, boating construction teacher, said the idea transpired when several Baldwin County residents notified him that boaters often do not have the proper amount or sizes of life jackets when checked by marine police.

"The county reached out to us about a problem they have had for many years; boaters are being checked by marine police and do not have the proper sizes or amount of life jackets on board," Bullock said. "This is not only illegal, but very dangerous and this oversight could cost someone their life."

According to Bullock, in Alabama any child under eight years of age must wear a life jacket at all times when on a boat and as a fellow boater, Bullock said he was instantly inspired to collaborate with his students to help take part in rectifying the situation.

"Our students wanted to help, so our program built three life jacket cabinets that will be placed at area boat launches," Bullock said. "The students that worked on this project helped design a set of drawings of what the cabinets would look like. Once they found the dimensions that worked best, they went to work, they built these cabinets from pressure treated lumber to withstand the harsh elements of the water and sun."

Bullock said the construction students also collaborated with students in the welding class to make some racks to hang the life jackets from.

"They were custom built out of steel and then painted with exterior paint, and to my knowledge, there were no blueprints for something like this. It was inspiring to see the students draw some themselves." Bullock said. "This will be a loaner station. The idea is that if you borrow a life jacket then at the end of the boating trip you put the life jacket back in the cabinet. They will be stocked with various sizes of life jackets from child sizes to adult."

Bullock said that his students typically participate in several community service projects each year, but this year's was unique as their work could potentially save lives.

"Our students were eager to do something for our community that could possibly save a person's life or at the very least it will prevent them from getting a ticket on their fun day on the water by law enforcement," Bullock said. "Wearing a life jacket is not just about whether an individual can swim or not. If a child is thrown out of a boat in an accident there is a high chance that they will hit their head on something and become unconscious, but wearing the proper life jacket will significantly raise your chances of survival in an accident."

Bullock said the project took about two months to complete, and his students are already looking forward to seeing their hard work on display once the weather warms up and boating season rolls around again.

"They have built a lot of projects, but this one really meant a lot to them," Bullock said. "They look forward to seeing them at our public boat launches and they hope that we can build more to put at different popular water ways. Our hope is that people will use them and that they will always put the life jacket that they borrowed back for the next person."