Hello all,

Some of you may remember my thread a few months ago detailing the trials and tribulations of our local school wood shop. Thanks to many fantastic members of this forum we received some very generous donations of money, tools, materials and services. I thought all those involved may be interested in an update!

It's been a whirlwind of activity and I'm very pleased with the progress we've made. The new compound miter saw and hand tool donation spurred a rigorous shop cleaning to make room! The kids got involved and we sorted lumber, cleaned out old projects and made a tool wall to properly store hand tools. It's amazing how just the new tools and cleaning got the students to feeling good about their class; you can tell they have began to feel a real sense of pride.

Thanks to some generous lumber donations the kids projects have become more detailed and they are taking the time to finish them nicely. I hope to get some pictures of a few finished projects up shortly. For the first time in four years the lathe was fired up today and an eager student started turning a bowl!

We still have a ways to go with some of the equipment but the momentum is building. People are starting to take notice of the shop program again! This really wouldn't have been possible without your encouragment and generosity. Thank you so much to all those who participated!

PS I'm meeting with a board member next week to discuss resurrecting the metal shop program...wish me luck!