Sam Braunagel is a residential advisor at the Atterbury Job Corps Center in Edinburgh, IN. He assists and mentors Job Corps students on-center, especially in the dorms. Part of this job includes encouraging students to use their skills and their creativity to make their time on-center more fun and engaging.

“We’re always looking for projects for the students to engage [in],” he says. “A lot of them in the dorm are interested in pool, so we decided to rehabilitate an old pool table.”

Pointing to a newly refurbished pool table, he continues, “We got this donated from a family in Avon, IN, [and] we went to pick it up and brought it back and just started sanding it down and refinishing it. We got students artists involved in creating the graphics on it.”

The students in the MLK dorm were grateful and excited about Mr. Braunagel’s idea to work on the new table.

“Our old pool table that we originally had when I got here was kind of battered up and [Mr. Braunagel] decided we should all make something special as a group,” says student Antwan Riley.

Repurposing the pool table required a lot of work, but it was worth it for the students involved to see their work come to life.

“It took a lot of hard work, but I’m glad that we got it finished and it looks beautiful,” Antwan continues.

“They did a great job,” says Mr. Braunagel. “A lot of these guys behind me are major contributors to this table.”

The students take great pride in the finished project and make sure it’s taken of.

“We’re very proud of it,” says Antwan. “No one would dare misuse this table.”

On top of being a showcase of their skills, the new pool table is also a place for the students to have fun and play games together during their free time, which also includes learning new trick shots. Watch the video above to watch some of their moves!