STORE HOURS:

Cassandra Rosales-White remembers feeling swarms of butterflies turning somersaults in her stomach when she walked into her very first carpentry class at the beginning of her sophomore year at Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School.

"I didn't know how to read a blueprint or a tape measure," recalled Rosales-White, now a junior at the high school in Northeast Washington, D.C. "And I was afraid that was the first thing Mr. Hughes would ask me to do."

However, it turned out that teacher Kevin Hughes, a journeyman carpenter, was sensitive to her case of the jitters. He defused any tension by deploying humor and a light touch to introduce his classroom of willing rookies to screwdrivers, hammers, levels, speed squares, power drills, sanders, table saws and a slew of other tools that were foreign to most of them.

Since those initial shaky days of autumn 2011, Rosales-White and her classmates have learned to wield a measuring tape with aplomb and crack the hieroglyphic code of blueprints. They've crafted paper towel holders, stepstools, personalized toolboxes and classroom doors. As well, they've mastered high-tech equipment such as the computer numerical control machine that can be programmed to transform a piece of wood into a simple hall pass or an intricate sign complete with type, artwork and other flourishes.

But the wood for these projects isn't free. To stretch their dollars for supplies and equipment, school administrators at Phelps have linked with local organizations that can offer the resources they often need to offer a top-notch education to high-schoolers studying carpentry; welding; plumbing; electricity; heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration; architecture; and engineering.  Enter Community Forklift.

As part of its outreach mission, the Forklift provides $100 worth of materials on a monthly basis to Phelps. Teachers from the different disciplines rotate their trips to the 40,000-square foot warehouse, depending on who needs what and when.

Community Forklift is sponsoring materials and supplies for a new initiative by Joe's Movement Emporium, called Art Lives Here.

Art Lives Here will provide more than $30,000 for artists to implement creative place-making activities. All mediums and experiences are encouraged to apply.  Arts education, youth groups, film, poetry and other art forms will be considered based on merit, budget and schedule.