Courtesy photo Cathy Belanger, one of several Nashua teachers who embarked on a desk-building project to help students without one, uses a sander to finish a desk. In the background are teachers Dan Scarpati, left, and Jeff Pelletier.

NASHUA – Not having an actual desk at home was probably not that big a deal for many Nashua students, who could easily commandeer a corner of the kitchen table or set up a couple of TV trays to do their homework.

Until, that is, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and forced school districts all over, including Nashua, to jump almost overnight into remote learning mode.

Suddenly, kitchen table corners and TV trays simply weren’t cutting it, as kids at all grade levels were now faced with spending the equivalent of the entire school day learning from home.

But thanks to the above-and-beyond efforts of several teachers, an increasing number of students who had to get through daily remote learning without a dedicated work space have started each school day at home by pulling up a chair to their new desks.

“We heard from parents who said their kids were trying to balance laptops on their bed, lying on the couch or using the kitchen table,” said Dan Scarpati, one of the team of eight teachers involved in building the desks.

Courtesy photo Members of Nashua's Club National turned their parking lot into a workshop on a recent Saturday, constructing some 100 desks to give to Nashua teachers to distribute to students who don't have a desk at home.

“A lot of kids didn’t have a good work space. It makes a big difference,” Scarpati added.

The idea for the project came out of a YouTube video that his fellow Elm Street Middle School teacher, John Barry, happened to see one day a few weeks ago.

“It showed how to build a simple desk,” Scarpati said. A few days later, the two picked up some lumber and, following the steps on the video, put together the first few desks in Barry’s driveway.

They asked, and were granted, the use of the school’s wood shop on Fridays, and soon finished desks were piling up in the shop.

Soon, word of the project began getting around, and requests started coming in, Scarpati said. Fulfilling them wasn’t as daunting as one might think, given how the team members’ skills improved with each desk built.

Courtesy photo Nashua teachers Cathy Belanger, left, Jeff Pelletier, right, and Dan Scarpati work in the wood shop at Elm Street Middle School building desks for students who don't have one at home.

“Build day” is still on Fridays, Scarpati said. “Once we’re done (teaching) for the day, we head over to the shop,” he said. In the three hours or so they spend in the shop, they turn out between 25-30 desks.

Among those who got wind of the project were members of Nashua’s Club National, a social organization known for its philanthropy and involvement in community causes.

“They contacted us and asked what we needed,” Scarpati said. They ended up getting members together and in one day, built 100 desks – then topped it off with a monetary donation.

Funding assistance has also come in from the United Way of Greater Nashua, as well as from countless individuals and families.

In the meantime, Scarpati’s and Barry’s fellow teachers, along with guidance counselors and school administrators, have been keeping an eye out for students who could really use one of the desks.

Courtesy photo Teachers Jeff Pelletier, left, and Dan Scarpati work together building a desk in the Elm Street Middle School shop.