DUNBAR, WV (WOWK) — Carpentry students at Ben Franklin Career Center in Dunbar used their skills to spread some holiday cheer.

The City of Nitro reached out to the class with a problem that required students to think outside of the box.

“I was excited because it was something that was going to be used for years to come,” said student Alyssa Holliday.

The sleigh Santa normally rides in when he comes to Nitro for the annual Christmas parade is no longer useable. So students accepted the challenge of building him a new one.

“I sent them a picture from years passed and they added their own design into the sled for Santa,” explained Joe Stevens, spokesperson for the city of Nitro. “He’s got one fine ride for our parade.”

With all the swirls, curves and sparkles, the project pushed them to learn new things and improvise.

“It was a lot of just seeing what we had and what we could do with it and just coming up with ideas,” Holliday said.

Their instructor, Gary Bennett, said they reused a couch for some of the project.

“They came up with the candy cane design for the runners, the students came up with that,” Bennett said. “All of the scroll work that is on it came from a couch and loveseat that our neighbors gave us and we repurposed it. So it lives on.”

Students watched with a sense of pride as a team from Nitro came to haul away their Christmas creation. It was a fun project that also taught them some important lessons.

“That I can accomplish anything in carpentry,” said student Tanner Fink about the experience. “I’ve learned something new every time.”

Bennett said it was inspiring to watch the students work.

“I hope they take that they can use their imagination because my goodness there is no test for imagination that I know of,” he said. “When you see someone come up with an idea, when that little light bulb comes on, it is rewarding.”

Nitro’s Christmas parade is set for this Saturday at 6 p.m.