I stopped by the high school Thursday while I was out running errands - after I got the truck shoveled out - and chatted with my replacement for a few minutes. He's building a circular staircase in the shop now. He and another student built the one that's in my new barn when he was in my class so he's got a little experience in that field. I didn't have my camera with me so I told him to e-mail me a few pictures and I'd post them here. Didn't get anything that looks like a staircase but the top photo is of the grates they made up for a place in Chicago. I saw them during construction and they came out really nice. They have a powder coat finish so they should hold up well to the foot traffic.
The bottom one is a butterfly they cut out on the new plasma cutter. Obviously he's become quite proficient with it. We've got one similar to it at the college but I've never seen it run. In fact, the subject came up earlier this week and I told my boss I know just the guy who can get that thing up and running. All this new technology is sometimes lost on us old guys. Not that we can't do it, it's the deciding if it's worth suffering through the learning curve for the limited amount of time you would use it. And, of course, the closer you are to the end of your employment, the less time you'll have to get a return on your investment.
I'll be getting more photos from "Shop Teacher Dave" and I'll post them as they come in. That'll get us back to something a little closer to what I had envisioned when I started this blog. I'm always looking to promote shop programs, wherever they are and whatever they are, but I'm especially proud to be able to promote my old program and see that it's in very capable hands. The school got real lucky when they got Dave.
4 comments:
I think you should tinker with the CNC plasma cutter. I'm trying to get one in my classroom this year- would open up a whole new avenue of learning for my students. LOTS of cool stuff you can do with them! Now if only I could find some "sponsors" to help me come up with the rest of the money I need...
The problem is I don't have a computer program to do my drawings and I just wouldn't use the plasma cutter enough to justify the time spent learning how to run it. At the college, I'm currently teaching three classes, working as a lab tech and certifying welding test plates. I really don't need any more on my plate, especially when I've got all the rest of my half finished projects. Besides, I know a guy who'd run something off for me if I needed it. But you young guys really should all have one. They aren't that much money, they generate a lot of interest among the students and it's the future of manufacturing. Maybe when Bill Gates reads this he'll cut you a check. It's strange that you don't hear about the tech billionaires donating money to guys like you that are wanting to incorporate real, useful technology into their programs. Seems like all the money goes to charter or private schools instead of investing some money where it would really help to improve the public schools, especially in programs like yours.
Liked your letter about the Master's Degree, by the way. Good luck with that.
Funny you should mention charter schools... The guy I replaced took a job at a new local charter school. They built a brand new building, he got to pick and design his own room. All tech stuff. Not a drop of vocational stuff. Not that theres really anything wrong with that, but man it sure would be nice to be able to update even SOME of my equipment. $50,000 would be a decent start... :)
Actually there's something very wrong with that. There are only a few ways to create real wealth - agriculture, mining or manufacturing. All the rest of what goes on in the economy is just a redistribution of the wealth. We need to get young people interested in careers in manufacturing by exposing them to the new tools of production. People throw all the numbers around about how charter school students get so much better scores on state tests (which isn't necessarily so) but do they actually have any useful skills when they graduate? Are these grads the same ones who run up $50K in college loans and can't find a job in their field? That $50K might have been better invested by buying you some equipment and coming in to the shop in the evenings and learning how to run it.
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