Ottoson Middle School teacher Allison Oropallo didn’t take the title of Sunday’s finale of the HGTV reality show All American Handyman.

But she sure enjoyed the season.

“The best part of the experience was definitely making it to the end,” Oropallo told Patch after the show. “I did this competition because I knew I could win. No matter whether I did win, I made it to the end.”

The first challenge of the evening was building a shed in five hours. Oropallo cleared that stage and was one of the remaining three contestants, after one of the four was eliminated.

On the second challenge, the contestants had to build a kitchen in five hours. The judges said all three did well, with Oropallo making the fewest mistakes and doing the most out of her area.

“The only thing I didn’t do was putting a window in front of my sink,” she said.

Contestant Jared Pollston took the title. He won $10,000 and a development deal with HGTV.

Oropallo, though, took home a great number of fans and admiration, from colleagues to students.

“I feel pretty proud,” she said.

At Ottoson, Oropallo teaches technology and engineering, where she takes math and science and puts it into hands-on learning. She was one of 20 handymen chosen from a pool of 3,000 contestants nationwide.