School Shop Class Update

[Roger Feeley]

Slightly off topic: The only time I ever hit my wife was when she was using a chop saw. I swear I only looked away for a second and when I looked back, the saw was on and coming straight down for her thumb. Basically, I clocked her and saved the thumb. After a tense moment, she thanked me. I watch her better now.

I taught Industrial Arts for 8 years and that moment in my basement shop was the closest one of my charges ever came to an accident.

[Jim Sevey]

I think it's a shame that so many schools have shut these programs down either due to liability or budget. I very fondly remember high school wood shop classes. It gave a life long hobby and skills for the real world. I am the neighborhood fix-it guy and happy to help. Taught my sons woodworking and open my shop to anyone who wants to learn....on all the tools.

My my hat is off to all of you high school shop teachers. You have the opportunity to have an immense impact on the lives of at least some of your students. I would love to volunteer at a high school shop. If there was an opportunity.

[Keith Hankins]

What a lucky man you are! I would gladly quit my job now in corp America to go back and do that!

I work in manufacturing and another tactic that works is encouraging their class members to look out for one another.

Create reward programs for seeing safety violations, call them out not to tattle but to help one another. I could be as simple as extra time on a machine or privleges.

I know our shop teacher had a reward system that if you spotted a safety issue which most of the time was safety glass usage, you would get to spend more time in another area of the shop. For me that was awesome.

The offender was not punished, but was talked to and as a class we stopped what was going on and took a knee to discuss the infraction, and the offender was taken back to classroom retrained on safety retested to get their shop certification card (right to leave the shop classroom and go into the shop (greatest feeling). If that got revoked you felt horrible being left behind while the rest of the glass went to get to use those cool tools!

It worked. I know I only got called out once for not wearing my welding beanie, and it was something I never did again. (BTW I never told my shop teacher that a piece of slag few up and over my face shield and landed on top of my hair. Lets just say it was a hot lesson and I learned why you wear the beanie!)

All I can say is to this day when I finish a piece of furniture, and I've come a long way since then (i'm an old man), the first thing I think of is "I hope Gus would be proud"

He's long past on, but in my thoughts often. You to will have that impact on those young ones too! Enjoy your opportunity.

[Paul Wunder]

55 years ago I went to a specialized high school in NY city that was primarily for college bound pre-engineering students. We took many shop classes to help us appreciate the nuts and bolts of what we might design someday.

We were all hot shots and thought we knew it all when it came to safety. My first shop teacher got our attention by simply saying that if we cut ourselves in his class: We Will Fail His Class.

That comment got our attention. We also all learned to carry our own band-aids.

[Bob Carreiro]

I read the posts and wonder if times have changed.

I went to a vocational HS (Diman Reg. Voc. HS, Fall River, MA, class of 70). We alternated 2 wks shop, 2 wks academics for 4 yrs. Never saw bad accidents. For first 2 yrs, no machinery - all hand tools (we mastered them one by one). Machinery was big - 36" Planer, 12" Jointer, 5HP Shaper (no feeder), etc., oh ya, no blade guard on the TS either, never mind a arriving knife! What helped back then, first, most students WANTED to be there and learn, but also, and most importantly, there were shop trade theory classes during the academic wks! These were 2 hrs classes 5 days a week: from trees, sawing & drying, to hand tools, power tools, then machinery, we learned them all - safety, safety, safety! Also, always in the shop were 2 old time woodworking instructors - 1 for 9-10 graders, 1 for 11-12 graders (shop was big). This allowed for close eyes on students and machinery by both teachers since half of the students had no business near machinery - though occasionally, the teacher would let a 10th grader "drop" his hand, face-planed board on the planer bed to "test" how truly flat the face was!

I remember those years well and am thankful I received such training. Although most my working career was not woodworking, in most shops I have worked (6 or 7), it was SO obvious few had formal training, and worse, most didn't want to change their ways! From what I read on this and other forums, there seems to be a more safety-conscience work force. Do you agree?

[Bob Carreiro]

I read the posts and wonder if times have changed.

I went to a vocational HS (Diman Reg. Voc. HS, Fall River, MA, class of 70). We alternated 2 wks shop, 2 wks academics for 4 yrs. Never saw bad accidents. For first 2 yrs, no machinery - all hand tools (we mastered them one by one). Machinery was big - 36" Planer, 12" Jointer, 5HP Shaper (no feeder), etc., oh ya, no blade guard on the TS either, never mind a arriving knife! What helped back then, first, most students WANTED to be there and learn, but also, and most importantly, there were shop trade theory classes during the academic wks! These were 2 hrs classes 5 days a week: from trees, sawing & drying, to hand tools, power tools, then machinery, we learned them all - safety, safety, safety! Also, always in the shop were 2 old time woodworking instructors - 1 for 9-10 graders, 1 for 11-12 graders (shop was big). This allowed for close eyes on students and machinery by both teachers since half of the students had no business near machinery - though occasionally, the teacher would let a 10th grader "drop" his hand, face-planed board on the planer bed to "test" how truly flat the face was!

I remember those years well and am thankful I received such training. Although most my working career was not woodworking, in most shops I have worked (6 or 7), it was SO obvious few had formal training, and worse, most didn't want to change their ways! From what I read on this and other forums, there seems to be a more safety-conscience work force. Do you agree?

[Keith Hankins]

I read the posts and wonder if times have changed.

I went to a vocational HS (Diman Reg. Voc. HS, Fall River, MA, class of 70). We alternated 2 wks shop, 2 wks academics for 4 yrs. Never saw bad accidents. For first 2 yrs, no machinery - all hand tools (we mastered them one by one). Machinery was big - 36" Planer, 12" Jointer, 5HP Shaper (no feeder), etc., oh ya, no blade guard on the TS either, never mind a arriving knife! What helped back then, first, most students WANTED to be there and learn, but also, and most importantly, there were shop trade theory classes during the academic wks! These were 2 hrs classes 5 days a week: from trees, sawing & drying, to hand tools, power tools, then machinery, we learned them all - safety, safety, safety! Also, always in the shop were 2 old time woodworking instructors - 1 for 9-10 graders, 1 for 11-12 graders (shop was big). This allowed for close eyes on students and machinery by both teachers since half of the students had no business near machinery - though occasionally, the teacher would let a 10th grader "drop" his hand, face-planed board on the planer bed to "test" how truly flat the face was!

I remember those years well and am thankful I received such training. Although most my working career was not woodworking, in most shops I have worked (6 or 7), it was SO obvious few had formal training, and worse, most didn't want to change their ways! From what I read on this and other forums, there seems to be a more safety-conscience work force. Do you agree?

I'm with you, there always more applied than got accepted into shop! We wanted to be there. There were a few that got weeded out soon. We started with the forge and black smithing. That was the greatest. I still have that bolt totally made by hand some where. Then we did hand tools, then power tools and welding. Sadly we only got a year. Gus retired not long after I graduated and they discontinued the program. Sad really.

Times change but humans don't. We need to be taught. A good teacher will light a fire in you, just as a bad one will put that fire out. The biggest change when you and I went to school, America still made things. Saddly, my generation, graduated 81, and it was in full bloom then. We were told the only way to get out (grew up in coal town) was to go to college. I know now if you come out of highschool and have a trade like a machinist, they are in high demand but thats few and far between.

I remember southside va was full of furniture factories, and clothing factories. All are gone. I even gave up my passion and went for the college degree and corp life. Looking back not sure it was worth it, but it paid to raise my family so can't complain too much.

Cheers!