Senior projects are becoming the norm for students in high school. These projects may take a few weeks or even a few months. They are designed to see how the soon-to-be graduate can develop an idea into an actual event, project or even something more tangible.
Such is the case for Florence’s Shea Miller. This quiet young man has stepped out of his comfort zone and raised over $37,000 in materials and money to build a new crow’s nest at the Florence football field. He drew up the plans, with the help of his father, Dave, who is a general contractor. Once he knew what was needed to do the project, he went before the Florence School Board, to gain their approval.
“The old crow’s nest was rotten, and shaky,” said Miller who has attended school in Florence since he was a kindergartner. He played football there and has a younger brother who is still playing. He said it was difficult to ask for donations but wrote a letter to give to potential donors. Among the major donors were Boyce Lumber of Missoula, Donaldson Bros, One Horse Construction, Florence Ace Hardware, and many, many more businesses. The middle section of the building will feature a sign listing all of the donations and those who helped. Miller relied upon his dad to help build the three-story building as well as many others including his coach, Tyler Gilder, and assistant coach Pat Duchene. Miller has been at the field almost every night working on the building.
The bottom of the building will be storage for football and track. The second level is also storage. The top level will feature a room for the announcer and the person who runs the clock. In addition there are separate rooms for both the Falcons and their opponents, which gives each team some privacy.
“It will be much easier to film games,” said Florence’s AD, Boone Nelson. “The windows are four feet above the old crow’s nest.”
The only money the school district put in was for the cost of the cement that wasn’t donated. Superintendent Bud Scully said he was very pleased with the project. “Shea has done such a wonderful job of bringing the community together to support a project that will have an impact on generations of future Falcons.”