Construction science students traded their pens and pencils for augers and hammers Friday and Saturday to help the Norman community grow.

The Cleveland County Master Gardener Association solicited the help of OU students to build a greenhouse at the county fairgrounds, said Ken Rossam, director of the construction science department in the College of Architecture.

Several construction science students began building the greenhouse Friday. They dug holes, leveled ground and erected the frame of the greenhouse, but a shortage of materials halted construction. Construction science senior Michael Ratcliff said the students would finish Oct. 25.

Ratcliff said he enjoyed helping the Master Gardeners in appreciation for what they do for Norman.

“We’re helping them help the community,” he said.

Construction science junior Sarah Brockhaus said the county extension office offered the students the job, which she thinks is well appreciated by the gardeners.

“They were probably going to hire someone else to help build if we couldn’t,” she said.

Rossam said the project fit perfectly into the construction science department’s motto, “citizenship, leadership and scholarship.”

He said construction science students are required to participate in a set number of community service hours each semester.

“If they do these community service projects, they can apply what they learn in the classroom,” he said.

The students also have helped build houses for Habitat for Humanity in the past, Rossam said.

“We feel like we’re giving back,” Brockhaus said.

All students who get involved benefit from helping out the community, Ratcliff said. The greenhouse gave students the chance to test their skills, to work together and to build a structure that will benefit others.

“We don’t get to do this every day,” he said.

Brockhaus said she enjoyed seeing all the students working together.

“They’re really going to benefit from having it built,” she said.