The sad end of high school woodshop

[Michael Yadfar]

Just felt like posting an opinion on something that's happened in my area over the past ten years or so, and seems to be happening all over the country: the end of wood shop in high school. In my area, most high schools have already cut the program years ago, with the poorer high schools first. Just recently, my high school, one of the most wealthy in the area and one of the last to have it, cut it as well. I graduated three years ago, and was actually the last class to ever have it. I took the class all four years, and my senior year the program was ended, and replaced with a CAD class and Architectural Design class. Luckily for me, my instructor was able to incorporate some woodworking into the Architectural Design program, since he viewed building what you designed an important aspect. However, after I graduated, the school put an end to that aspect as well.

I find this completely disappointing. My high schools reasoning for cancelling this was because they viewed it as irrelevant to the high schools curriculum, and that students interested in woodworking would simply enroll in a Vo-tech program. This is just so dumb in my opinion, because there were many college bound students who took the class, including myself, who wouldn't go to vo-tech since we didn't plan to become carpenters. Wood shop was a great opportunity to give your mind a break from the books while doing something productive, and also put some things to practical use like math, drafting, and CAD. Not to mention, I can think of many of the mandatory courses I had to take in high school that will never apply to myself or 95% of the other students. Wood shop also gave me love to the woodworking hobby, which I ending up continuing after I put together my own wood shop after high school and continue it. Pretty soon I feel like any of the other free minded elective such as art will be cancelled as well.

Another issue with cancelling this, which may be the high schools intention, is it takes away peoples ability to find love for the trades. In my high school, you're not allowed to take vo-tech until 10th grade. They also cancelled middle school wood shop, so basically for those who cold have gotten a taste in middle school or 9th grade, they no longer get that opportunity.

One last thing, sure about half the kids in the class were students simply trying to "get by" in high school and took the "easy" class, but the other half as mentioned were college bound students interested in wood working.

[John K Jordan]

I'm afraid this is part of the dumbing down of our country. (Says something about the intelligence of those making these decisions, even more about the budget priorities.)

Not only the shop has suffered but art and music. Who cares about enrichment these days?

I recently had a discussion with some artists in fiber, wood, and ceramics and the universal lament was the limiting or removal of these programs.

Fortunately, there are still some schools that haven't given up everything. The Oak Ridge TN high school where my kids went has an excellent art (including photography, ceramics, theatrical art) and music program (a string program started by Edgar Meyer's dad introduces kids to strings in the 4th grade). I haven't checked on their wood shop lately but I do know a 16 year old girl who is in her second year of welding class there and they have machining - these courses can provide certifications. However, since this school has history of excellence, I worry about all the schools from districts without the resources available here.

JKJ

[Prashun Patel]

I wouldn't say "dumbing down" as much as "misinforming". There is false perception that hand skills and manufacturing are obsolete and take back seats to coding and math. But making things teaches us how to make things better. Innovation comes from working.

i have to say they are in many ways smarter than I am. But they take too many building blocks for granted imho. This makes me think they are vulnerable l.

[Peter Kelly]

I'm guessing that the insurance premiums for a wood shop in an educational environment costs an outrageous amount of money. Seems like a hold over from a much less litigious era.

[Michael Yadfar]

I'm guessing that the insurance premiums for a wood shop in an educational environment costs an outrageous amount of money. Seems like a hold over from a much less litigious era.

Insurance definitely factors in, but in my schools case I don't think that was much of the reason. They did get rid of metal shop way before I went there due to that, but that was because they needed a whole new ventilation system and many other safety things to comply, and the program only consisted of like one class. Wood shop though my instructor did a lot of things to help with that, for example they bought a saw stop which helped with insurance, and my school district is wealthy as said.

[Chris Padilla]

FWIW, my daughter took a drafting/ww'ing class in 7th or 8th grade but I'm not sure what is available now that she has started high school this year as a freshman. When I was in high school (mid 80s), I don't recall there being any shop classes but again, we had them in junior high (now called middle school) and for us, it was 7-9 for junior high.

From what I can tell, schools don't have the money for those vocational type classes. They barely have enough to get the core stuff taught.

[Dave Anderson NH]

There has been an increasing perception among educators for at least 20-30 years that "shop" classes of any type are unimportant and not a part of "real education". A good friend is the director of technical education at a large high school and struggles constantly against the bias among teachers and many administrators that both Voc-Ed teachers and their students are somehow of a lower intelligence and social standing than those teaching "real" courses and preparing students for college. In addition to being poppycock, this ignores the fact that we need woodworkers, sheet metal people, machinists, carpenters, auto body workers, and so forth, and that industry alone can't bear all of the burden of training them. Education in any and all forms is preparation for life. We need folks with a wide variety of skills and backgrounds or society won't work. My son is a prime example. He had the intelligence to do pretty much anything he wanted. He chose Voc-Ed schooling which was far more intensive and far reaching than the local MA high school where we lived at the time. Now at almost 45 years old he is 3 courses away from a double major in business and computers at his local community college, and makes almost twice my income in his trade. He recently started his own business on a part-time basis, is doing well, and is complaining that he should have done it 5 years ago.

Sorry for the rant, but not everyone is suited for college, for college at immediate graduation from high school, and not everyone is suited to ride a desk. Good tradespeople deserve respect based on their character, the quality of their work, and the absolute need we have for them.

[Mel Fulks]

Many a worthy "zip gun" was made in school shops. Fine materials like Cadilac radio antena barrels, and baseball team trophy walnut grips proclaimed "American made!". I blame the decline of craftsmanship on cheap foreign imports.

[Roger Feeley]

our local high school dropped shop classes a long time ago. Now they boast a 'maker lab' and they have this crappy table top table saw. Yikes!

[Mike Henderson]

The problem I see with woodworking is that very little "woodwork" is done by an individual any more. In order to be cost competitive, the product has to be made in a factory in very high volume - and that means computer controlled machinery. Look at cabinetry for kitchens, for example. Nobody builds kitchen cabinets from scratch any more. The installer goes to the house and measures the kitchen and does a "design" based on what he/she can get from their suppliers. And some of the stuff is VERY high end.

For the few people who "build" the cabinets, they order things like doors, drawer fronts, and even drawers, from a factory supplier. And that factory supplier builds the stuff with expensive computer controlled machines. (this market is for things like built in desks, built in bookcases, and maybe media cabinets - true custom stuff.)

Finishing is another problem. The catalyzed finishes used on most of the cabinetry (for durability) requires special environmental controls and respirators for those working with it.

So I question if someone can get a good job from taking shop in high school. What's needed is the knowledge of how to program and use those machines. And because of the expense of the machines, they want someone trained in how to properly operate them.

After I retired, I took woodworking classes at Cerritos College. They have some CNC type machines, but most of the students were people like me - older and who just wanted to do woodworking as a hobby. We never worked on those CNC machines - just the kind of machines you'd have in your home shop.

School, both high school and vocational school, needs to train young people in skills that will help them get a good job. Traditional shop is not where it's at.

Mike

[Stew Hagerty]

They do have a separate "Career Center" here in our school district where kids can go and take classes in machine shop, aircraft maintenance, construction trades, culinary arts, etc...
It's an amazing place and a great asset to our community. Their classes count not only for HS credit, but college as well. My nephew took their aviation courses and just graduated HS with only a few classes to go to get his Associates Degree and his Aircraft Mechanic's License.
Here's a link to their website, more communities should have something like this:
https://www.fortwayneschools.org/sch...hp?school=0093

[Charles Wiggins]

To my knowledge, it will not include the standard high school "shop" type curriculum, but the community college where I work is partnering with the county school system to build a new vo-tech center here on campus, which is fairly central, where students of all of the high schools may come and take classes. We currently have programs in Building & Construction, Welding, Machining, Autobody (called "Collision Repair" now), Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Mechanical Drafting, and we are going to be adding Agribusiness with a functioning farm.

[Roger Feeley]

There are so many benefits to shop classes that spill over into other disciplines.

Organization: You have to do this before you can do that.
Visualization: See how the part fits into the whole. Visualize an operation to avoid accident.
Attention to detail: Spend time getting this step right and the next step is 10 times easier

Sadly, though, shop classes are pretty expensive per student. When my daughter was in middle school they had a class where you made balsa wood airplanes with rubber bands. These were actual airfoils so were much more complex than the dime store things we flew as kids. Much of what I described above, she got from that class and the equipment cost was negligible.

But I would still fund them. You just never know what's going to light a kid up. It might be music or art or sports or yearbook or shop. You find that one thing and all the other classes come easier because the kid is motivated. If all you offer is the 3Rs, you wind up with a bunch of unhappy, unmotivated robots.

[John K Jordan]

.... Nobody builds kitchen cabinets from scratch any more....

It may be uncommon, but when you say "nobody makes cabinets from scratch any more" I think you mean you don't know of anybody who makes cabinets from scratch any more.

I know some cabinet shops that build from scratch, one down over the hill from me. They made our kitchen cabinets from scratch with raised panel hickory doors and for cheaper than I could buy them anywhere. I designed all of them and drew a set of drawings so what I got fit my space and needs. They stay busy year around.

The shop classes I had in Junior High School were not about preparing students for a trade but introducing kids to new ideas and possibilities while working with their hands. Almost everything was done with hand tools. I loved it.

JKJ

[Bruce Volden]

You folks are overlooking the big picture. How can a school afford a ww shop when nowadays they need to install gender neutral toilets???

Bruce