High School Shop Class....

[dlminehart]

How about those half-cylinder ramps for skateboarding?

Or trebuchets, for using the force of gravity to fling objects great distances? Work along with a science teacher on this project; have a competition between teams taking different approaches to the project.

Check with nonprofit agencies for storage or other needs. Harness kids' idealism on such projects.

[LinuxRandal]

How about those half-cylinder ramps for skateboarding?

Or trebuchets, for using the force of gravity to fling objects great distances? Work along with a science teacher on this project; have a competition between teams taking different approaches to the project.

Check with nonprofit agencies for storage or other needs. Harness kids' idealism on such projects.

So they could build a really big one and launch the administrators vehicle, that is making the class harder to take?

[dbarnett]

I teach woodworking and because of scheduling changes for the next year thanks to the new State of Michigan graduation requirements the number of students taking my class has dropped by half. This is putting my job as risk. I don't understand how the legislature can think this is a good thing...you better save now to ensure you have money to pay for repairs to your home, car, etc...

So here's my question...

I need to market my class to teenagers. Past projects I have done are coffee tables, end tables, bars, gun racks, gun stocks, rocking chairs....the list goes on. I will be offering my students the choice of making an electric guitar or a skateboard next year...

Any ideas of what a 15 - 19 year old might be interested in making??

Jeff

As a former vocational arts teacher in the state of California, I am afraid you might be pi$$ing in the wind. I had to go back to school and get a Special Education credential to remain marketable. We had 8 teachers in our department 8 years ago. There is one part-timer left today. I also went back for an administrative credential as well. I hate the feeling that your job may be ended no matter what contribution you bring to the classroom. Our school had one of the best vocational competitive teams in the country and it was thrown away with the stroke of a pen. By the way, going back to school only cost me $32K more. I have $200 a month payments for the next 20 years, and I have been teaching for 14 years already!

[jlake1998]

I built in 9th grade a garage bout 1 foot tall double garage with windows and doors, So im guessing it was built to 1/10 scale and had fun building it using the required spacing and size from the teacher.
Maybe you could do something like this and go into some extra depth of support requirments for spans, trusses beams ,headers, supports. end of class students could take home a wooded tablet with some of these building rules..

[maxparot]

Bet you'd get a bunch if you offer to let them build crossbows.
I also bet you'd seal your fate with your job.
I think you are aiming in the right direction with guitars or any other wooden musical instruments.

[cabinetman]

How about some kind of tool box. Maybe a tote, or maybe a shop version. Might be an incentive to buy some tools and get involved.

[Slik Geek]

David has some great ideas...

Or trebuchets, for using the force of gravity to fling objects great distances? Work along with a science teacher on this project; have a competition between teams taking different approaches to the project.

Trebuchets would certainly capture the interest of teenagers. You might get some grief if they end up taking them home and cause injury or damage...

Given the challenge you face funding the purchase of materials for the program...

I have a "0" budget the students have to pay for the projects. One of the problems I have is my students can't afford those types of projects. I teach in a poor farming district.
Jeff

...the difficulty of capturing the interest of teenagers and generating interest in the program so that the administration considers it a vital part of the curriculum, how about this hybird combination of ideas gleaned from the responses in this thread:

Find a good cause in the area that has an unmet need. Conceive a project (or several projects) to meet that need. Solicit contributions from businesses (not necessarily just local) to fund the materials required. Promote the good cause to the student body. Communicate the project's details to the media.

It will be a bunch of extra work the first year. The public interest it should generate will hopefully build momentum so that next time contributors will seek you out, the press will want to report on the next project, the community will admire you (support you), and the school administration can't possibily risk impeding you.

[cwsmith]

Jeff,

My shop class experience is about 45 years ago, and I know your budget may not allow for this kind of thing. But, in my woodshop class, we weren't allowed to do "personal" projects like gun racks, bookends, bowl for mom, etc. My shop teach believed that "projects should be products", so we took a manufacturing approach to each semester. The first semester we made desks, with turned legs, beveled drawer fronts, etc. My drafting class did the plans for the desks and also for the jigs, working with the shop class in a manner that we all learned the details of what could be done and why. We even visited a local furniture factory to see how they did things.

Everybody got involved in the planning and the process, and we each rotated through each step of the process so we got so great experience on the variety of tools. We also sold orders and in the first first semester we manufactured and sold over eighty desks as I recall. Two basic models, in a choice of four finishes as I recall. It was a very successful project.

The second semester we took a two-stall garage plan and made some alterations to turn it into a small house complete with bathroom. We visited a redi-cut housing plant that was about 75 miles away. A nice day trip. The project took us from January through May to build, fabricating wall sections, trusses, etc. We took it to a site and erected it in two days and another day to shingle the roof. It ended up being a radio station for the Military Affiliated Radio Service.

The class that was prior to ours built a two-stall garage for the schools use, and I recall that a later class built a couple of boats for local river regatta.

Our shop teacher later moved on to the State University system where he taught future shop teachers. I think the point of all of this was that it gave the student a well rounded education in practical application of woodworking. Not only did you learn to use a variety of tools and gain skills with each, but you also got a great sense of teamwork, self-esteem, and pride in knowing that the whole school and community got to see your handiwork. My father and two of my uncles bought those desks and they had them for years. The MARS radio facility was in existance for at least 20 years, but I'm not sure if it's still there today.

CWS