May 8, 2002
Fair showcases student handiwork
Furniture, electronic gadgets, CAD drawings some of the items on display
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
The quality of work was astonishing. Handmade furniture, electronic gadgets, CAD drawings, and plastic projects showed great attention and loving care from their student creators.
More than 200 projects were showcased Friday at the 2002 Michigan Industrial and Technology Education Society regional fair. Held at Traverse City West High School, the fair included dressers, bed frames and tables to clocks, gun cabinets and mirrors, all polished to a high gloss. Other more unusual hand-made wooden entries included a kayak, a dogsled and a pool cue cabinet.
Electronics projects included a metal detector while detailed architectural models showed hours of meticulous work.
"Seventy of the best projects will go on to the state competition next weekend in Grand Rapids," said John Morris, the industrial arts teacher at West High School. "The state competition is really phenomenal."
Judges from the various trades and crafts in the community donated their time to evaluate the projects, giving out ribbons for the first four placements in each division. Divisions spanned the spectrum of the skilled trades and included graphics arts, plastics, mechanical drawing and electrical, as well as the traditional wood, machine shop and wrought metal.
Sophomore Joe Johnson of West High School entered a folding table, a lathe-turned bowl, a children's tote tray and some drawings into the competition, garnering first and second place finish for his efforts.
"I like getting to make stuff with my hands," said Johnson, who plans to study small engines next year at TBA. "It took around 30 hours to make the tote tray, which I'm using for a nightstand."
Scott Mills, a self-described 'shop' teacher from Mackinaw City High School, said his students brought a total of 35 projects to the competition. Ranging in age from eighth-grade to seniors, they entered mostly furniture along with some drawings.
While his school is small, with a graduating class this year of 18 students, he has found great enthusiasm for his hands-on classes, especially woodworking.
"They're building nice stuff, here, building heirlooms," said Mills, a teacher for eight years. "The kids get to make something that they can take home and it'll never be sold at a garage sale."
Daniel Nelson is one of Mills' students and he won the Regional Grand Award for his Walnut dresser inlaid with a geometric design in cherry wood. The dresser also featured thin inlay strips of contrasting color and a curved front and drawers. Nelson also included in his display a binder of his sketches, design drawings and pictures of the work in progress.
"This is my baby," said Nelson, who estimates he put in around 800 hours of work on the piece. "I really enjoy woodworking. We have a really great teacher and a lot of dedicated students and it really shows."
For a number of years, industrial arts teachers have weathered a movement away from hands-on classes in carpentry, metalworking, plastics and electronics. As the economy became increasingly high-tech, education dollars went to CAD or other computer-based classes.
However, the past few years have brought some more funding to these traditional shop classes as a statewide shortage of skilled workers becomes more apparent. This change is greatly needed, noted Curt Regentin, a teacher from Harbor Springs.
"I field two or three phone calls a day from local employers looking for skilled workers," he said.