Building bridges (literally) for the community: NVHS student project a powerful example

When Nooksack Valley High School senior Jack Santosuosso finished designing and building a 30-foot-long bridge within the Ostrom Conservation Site he started running back and forth on the bridge. “It was just so satisfying,” he says. “It is cool to take something that people use and make it better.” 

Santosuosso has certainly made the Ostrom site plenty better, spending countless hours clearing trails in the 40-acre site off South Pass Road, which was gifted to NV Schools in 1994, developed with the parks department for the specific purpose of outdoor education and is now used both by the district for exploration and learning for students but is also open to the public all year. 

As part of his senior Capstone project — a culminating project at NVHS that includes 15 hours of work that Santosuosso eclipsed and shattered — the senior who has spent his entire life exploring in the woods, making is how trails and building forts, wanted to explore that passion. 

Working with high school teacher Scott Conner, who teaches art, drafting, architecture and outdoor education, the two decided that spending time figuring out how to incorporate Santosuosso’s interest in architecture, construction and forestry could result in a project that rebuilds bridges in severe disrepair at the Ostrom site. 

“How loved the idea of this project and hit it running,” Conner says. “I was amazed at the amount of time and energy he put into this project. Most kids complete their allotted time for their capstone and call it good. I’m not quite sure how many hours Jack had into this project, but it was probably pushing 80 or more. He cleared trails, worked on the parking area and built a series of much-needed bridges.”

The biggest moment was a 30-foot-long bridge built over the forested swamp near the top of the site, something Conner says has been sorely needed for years. 

After securing a donation from Home Depot for concrete foundation blocks, Santosuosso then milled his own wood on his father’s sawmill, designed the bridge and constructed it. For Santosuosso, that’s just all part of what he is about, but he did quickly learn the intricacies of turning an idea into reality. 

“The idea in your head and then actually applying it in the real world is completely different,” he says. “You encounter things.” Santosuosso says he was inspired to use his dad’s sawmill, but when the belts broke while he was milling the rot-resistant cedar he had to go through the entire machine, replacing the belts just to get boards cut. “It is those kinds of things,” he says, “they are a lot more complicated than you think.” 

Before even constructing the bridge, he worked with a friend to “drop a tree nice and perfect” that had died nearby he was concerned would be a hazard. Then came the construction and the finishing of the bridges and clearing of trails. Running across the finished bridge was a reward for all the work. 

“I have always been in the woods and it was cool to harness that and put it into something that helps the community and has a lasting impact,” Santosuosso says. “Hopefully all my hard work goes to something that will last a long time.” 

Throughout the process, Santosuosso also came to an even greater appreciation of how amazing a tool a tree can be. And all this time working in a variety of fields in just one project gave the high school senior a chance to explore the world of outdoors, a world he loves, in a career-minded way. “It has drawn me closer to where I want to go in my life,” he says. 

But the best feeling for Santosuosso may have been the fact he was able to explore his childhood ambition of playing in the woods. “It was almost like I was building forts in the woods,” he says, “but it was more rewarding than that.” 

A reward for the entire community. “In 40 years of teaching,” Conner says, “I’ve really never seen anything like it.”