This is what all school shop classes should be like

I dont know the school or the area but hey any school shop class that boasts a CNC machine, sawstop edge sander etc and most important of all a teacher prepared to do this kind of project .....well now to me thats real education.

Each of those kids can leave school with having had experience at the full process of innovation jig making manufacturing cad design you name it all in one project.

Very impressive. How common is this kind of setup around the country, what dictates a shop having a setup like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sDu5QY9ixs&feature=player_embedded

Rob Keeble said:

what dictates a shop having a setup like this?]

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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Rob Keeble said:

I dont know the school or the area but hey any school shop class that boasts a CNC machine, sawstop edge sander etc and most important of all a teacher prepared to do this kind of project .....well now to me thats real education.

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I agree completely.

Rob Keeble said:

Very impressive. How common is this kind of setup around the country

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Yes it is. How common? I don't know, know that a few exist, usually around a large city or a large industrial park that is interested in setting a standard for incoming laborers. It is the age old problem, the teacher that can do all of that can actually make more money easier in industry than they can in education. Consequently, in the '70's, many great Industrial Arts teachers quit teaching to make great money in industry.

and to add insult to injury the schools closed the shop programs, college was more important than trades..now its flopped again and no trades available..

But i heard thats changing again Larry. Specifically up in Canada they realizing it needs to change. We lucky to have Mike Holmes who is a bit of a campaigner for this creating public awareness to this problem. He keeps pointing out that there is a huge shortage of trades coming down the line, no matter how willing at some stage the body of the old pros just wont be able to allow them to keep going. Then people will see shoddy work and all that goes with it.

But what i prefer about the video episode is more of the point of providing the kids with the experience of the whole process using modern machinery and techniques. Up in Canada those kids could get loads of support to branch out on their own and even start that in the summer. We have a summer job program that provides $3000 to a kid with a half decent business idea to start their own business in the summer. So starting at say around 15 they could get three summers out by the time they finish school and have quite a bit under their belt and on their way if they got the drive.
There are also innovation centers being set up where they could take that idea and work on it even more and there is mentoring etc to go along with it.

Bottom line to me is the shop gives the kick start but the kid also has to have the drive and interest. Disappointing thing in the video was i did not see 15 kids in the video. Looks like the same old handful with the interest. My bet is that handful tinker at home anyway.

I know some would like to see them using handtools etc but lets get real hand tools are for us nostalgia old guys with the time to spare in a hobby.

That handful is the "seeds" of the program. It doesn't change overnight.

Jon said it...$$$$$, but a good teacher is key too.

Our school had a pretty good program at one time, but when the shop teacher that taught it left to pursue a programming career it went down hill. At one time our school had auto mechanics shop; metal shop with a foundry, welding, and sheet metal tools; plastic shop with injection machines and vacuum forms; full blown wood shop with a huge stash of rough lumber sold at cost to students; and autocad classes.

Where my kids attended, they used kits that were pre-cut and drilled, which also cost an arm and a leg. They did have a small cnc mill, but it was never taught to the students, mostly for show at parent teach conferences.

My niece is an Industrial Arts teacher at a middle school in the San Diego area. She does have a small CNC machine in her shop, but virtually no other woodworking tools. (They make plastic parts with the CNC.) She does have several mini lathes, but so far hasn't learned enough about using them to teach the kids. If we can ever get together, she's asked me to teach her the ins and outs of pen turning so we can start using the lathes in class. Like Jon said, a lot of it has to do with funding. She's been lucky to acquire what she has in her shop, but has lost shop space on the past few years as it has been allocated to other classes.