PRESCOTT — Prescott High School’s R5 Manufacturing has quickly grown into a major technical education opportunity. The program is a student-run business that takes on clients and goes through the entire product creation process from brainstorming to creating and finally, marketing.

R5 stands for the five R’s of being a Prescott Cardinal: rigor, respect, responsibility, relationships and relevance.

“This year we started up the student-run business, and they’ve been doing all of the marketing, advertising, woodworking, welding, a little bit of mechanics and doing jobs for the community,” Technical Education Teacher Kyle Schmidt said.

Prescott’s woods classes have been milling their own lumber and distributing it to other classes that have made furniture from it.

“It’s a chance for students to get real-world experience. They’re working with clientele, so they’re calling the customers, they’re asking them questions, they’re helping them design the products, they’re blueprinting it, estimating it and then they go and build it,” Schmidt said.

Students are both paid hourly and receive a profit share from the products created. The April 15 open house that spans from 6-8 p.m. is an opportunity to both get a closer look at the happenings of R5 Manufacturing and to financially support the students. There will be a raffle that includes a Blackstone Grill, a portable grill, a firewood holder, an M18 drill kit, a glass set custom engraved for the winner and a custom engraved end grain cutting board. Half of the raffle money will go directly toward the hourly pay of students in the program. All are welcome at the event.

“It’s important for people to see how big our facility is, what the students are working on and what our capabilities are. It will help create that relationship, so that when people hear about R5 Manufacturing, they know that it’s the Prescott students that are running the business,” Schmidt said. “Overall, it would be good for the students to be able to introduce themselves to the community.”

In addition to getting to tour the space, the open house provides an opportunity to showcase student work and have students talk about the strides they have taken through the business.

Through one year of R5 Manufacturing’s existence, the group has raised the funding to remove fees to take some of the pre-requisite courses before being hired by R5, and they are looking to continue progressing on that goal.

Learning how far a dollar goes, how to create a project they are both proud of and capable of marketing and being hands-on throughout the entire process has been a major benefit for R5’s students.

With the high school also looking to construct a machine shed in the fall to add space for storage as well as an outdoor classroom for both students and the community, the open house is an opportunity to support that project.

To purchase raffle tickets or donate to the group, email r5manufacturing@prescott.k12.wi.us. If you purchase raffle tickets prior to the event, you do not need to be present to claim your prize.