This week, we built a practice roof system. First step was to build a wall 18 inches high that would function as the top walls of a house. Then we learned how to measure and cut rafters, which is fascinating and requires uncomfortable geometry and old-school tools. Pythagoras is involved. It makes my brain hurt.

Pablo said he didn’t want to help build a wall. Walls divide people, he said. He was making a joke, but it rang sort of sad. I told him we’d work together, on the same side of the wall. In the end, we built four walls together and turned them into a house.

The practice roof was our best project yet, because it involved everyone. There was a real sense of pride and camaraderie after we got all the rafters on. Of course, there was also a real sense of “Doh!” once we realized we built the house too big to remove it from the room. Still, pride. And camaraderie.

And this happened at Polly & Co.:

Then we put on shingles. It was pleasant enough in the classroom, but imagine a giant roof in 110° summer heat. I do not expect to major in roofing.

In other activities, we went back to the dental lab, where we are building cabinet doors and a new stainless steel countertop.

The cabinet doors in the dental lab require a wood banding to finish the sides of the doors. The banding has to be ironed on. With an iron.

Sometimes I forget how young my classmates are. One student is 16; others are 18 and thereabouts. This week, the instructor had to show them all how to write a check.

Sometimes, I also forget that I used to write a weekly food column, in which I reviewed Nashville restaurants. If I were still in that business, here’s what I’d be writing about this week: