lets hit the dirt and ride!

The go cart has come a very long way since we first got the idea. The seat has been put on, engine, gas tanks, front tires, stirring wheel, frame, front suspension.
















A rear view of the go cart including the engine, radiator, and gas tanks.





What it looked like when we first started the frame.

the sparkes are flying

At first the welding class had only two boys Emmet and Jaxon, but after first semester Stephannie and Charlene joined. This brought a lot of character to the metal shop. whenever i turned around they were always making me laugh, they worked just as hard as the boys. they completed two signs which are now on the front door of the shops.

projects in the running

In the last year we have had a lot of great creativity and projects. the students are very into their work. they love to put make sure that everything is perfect and looking GOOD! Some are so dedicated to this program that i have them bagging me to stay after, just to let them work on their woodworking.







Both the high school and middle school woods I, both did a keep sack box. the high schools' is small with a hinged on lid. made out of walnut and maple. Then, the 7th grades boxes were just plain pine.to the side Michael miller Jr, Julia N., both of 7th graders are finished with their boxes. they are both stained very nice colors: light oak and walnut. each student had their own color, but they made it theirs even though the other 20 some kids had the same designed box.














the high school on the other hand had much smaller boxes. which had, hinges, a cut off lid, in stead of a panel lid. each students box is 6" by 8". which was small but it all worked out in the end. they all had time to built another project before the school year was over. this was the high schools starting project for tool, and shop safety.
to the left is Stephannie Millers box, which was was stained with mineral oil and didn't have the corner keys, unlike Benny Angasan his had the side corner keys and also used mineral oil. there were over 6 of these made, but only one with the corner keys.

Our first project, a TImber Frame Sauna

The past 2 years really have been a bit of a blur. We have done some really cool projects and gotten the shop running well. We didn't have a lot of money when we first started so we decided that we needed to do a fundraiser for the wood shop to buy new tools. A sauna is what we decided on, but not just any sauna. It was to be of timber frame construction using recycled Douglas Fir timber from the local cannery.











































We started with a stack of timbers, nails and all and when we finished this is what we had.

In the beginning there was dust!

I started teaching at Bristol Bay Borough School District August 2007 as a science and math teacher with a woods class on the side. Now I only teach 2 science classes and the rest are shop classes: welding I & welding II, woods I, woods II (furniture), construction trades, design and manufacturing, and 7th grade woods. The wood shop has changed dramatically since the first day I walked in. There are new tools, better organization, less dust, and a lot of project that students are working on. On any given day someone can walking into the shop and find an active bunch of students working on a variety of projects. It has been a crazy process for me to change from a science teacher to a shop teacher, but despite hacking up sawdust after a busy day I deeply love teaching the classes that I do. I get a little shiver up my neck when I see a student finish a project that they have worked so hard at.