What Is A Common Attribute That You See In The Stu- dent That Enrolls In Your “Woodshop Rocks” Class?
this extra work time, we are still usually working to the very last days of the semester to finish guitars. However, student design choices are endless. Students are able to choose from many popu- lar guitar body patterns, head stock patterns, and paint designs are limited only by how far the students’ imagination will go. My goal is to eventually run the class for a full year, which will allow time to experiment with custom body and headstock de- signs, binding, inlay, carved top guitars, and more in-depth paint designs.
Students Are Learning Skills In Your Class That Could One Day Lead To Employment In The Guitar Manufacturing In- dustry Or As Self-Employed Luthiers. Do You Discuss Career Paths?
Again due to time constraints, there is not any time to discuss A common attribute I see in the students that enroll in my
“Woodshop Rocks” class is a huge amount of enthusiasm and a low amount of patience. Many steps of building a guitar, such as sanding, shaping, filing fret wire ends, soldering electronics, and setting string action require a ton of time and patience. Since today’s youth is accustomed to “instant gratification,” many stu- dents’ levels of patience are put to the ultimate test. However, students understand that their level of patience and attention to detail will make or break the quality of their finished guitar. Through the course of the semester, seeing students become more patient and developing a keen eye for quality in their work is one of the most rewarding parts of my job as an educator.
How Many Of The Students Enrolled In Woodshop Rocks Are Musicians?
Of all the students enrolled in my “Woodshop Rocks” class,
I haven’t had any students yet who built a guitar and knew how to play it. I’ve had a small handful of students who were cur- rently taking lessons and knew how to play a few chords and riffs. However, most of my students have never played guitar. Of those students, many of them became inspired to sign up for lessons so they could learn how to play the very guitar they built. I’ve also had students who flat out admitted they just want to hang it on their wall to display. Even if they just hang it up, they will always have it should they choose to learn later on in life.
Is There Room For Experimentation Or Innovation In Your Classes Beyond The Initial Covering Of The Basics?
Due to time constraints, there is not a whole lot of room for experimentation or innovation, with the exception of their paint designs. Currently, I only have the students for one semester (half a year). In order to finish on time, I run “open shop” after school several days per week in addition to normal class time. Even with
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career paths in-depth with my students. With a full year class, I hope to be able to include these discussions in my class and pos- sibly take field trips. A broader goal of my class and this project is to teach kids the value of hard work in general. With today’s tech- nology, many kids are accustomed to “instant gratification.” This project calls for students to dedicate hours and months of hard work in order to achieve their goal. In the process, students are learning employable lutherie and woodworking skills, but also learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills as well. This can then translate to an interest and appreciation for music and music history.
Do You See More Programs Similar To Yours Becoming Available?
The Hamilton Township School District has three middle schools and three high schools. My brother, Lee Friedman, is the wood shop teacher at Steinert High School, which is fed by a dif- ferent middle school. He offers “Woodshop Rocks” as a part of his more traditional “Materials Processing” furniture design and construction class. Unfortunately, many Technology/Industrial Arts programs
have been eliminated from many public schools. A few reasons for this are budget cuts, lack of certified Technology/Industrial Arts teachers, lack of programs to train new teachers at the colle- giate level, and a societal devaluation of trade skills. In a country where many jobs have been outsourced, we will never be able to outsource skilled trades men and women. Once these programs are gone, they are very difficult to bring back, due to the cost of shop infrastructure such as tools, machinery, and shop furniture. However, I believe and hope we will see a resurgence of programs like mine. These programs will only survive and be successful if they offer projects that are relevant and intrinsically motivating to young students.
OCTOBER 2014
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