An eighth grade student applies a final layer of polyurethane to her wood pieces. In the class students work with real professional grade tools such palm sanders, table saws and planners. Photo by Sarah Harmon
Students in Rachel Manack’s eighth grade tech ed. class spent the week working on creating a charging station box. The eighth graders had the opportunity to use professional tools to create their projects.
Students begin with choosing a piece of wood, sanding it, cutting the wood, putting multiple coats of polyurethane on the wood, then gluing the pieces together. After that, students had the chance to carve their names into the shelves using a professional laser tool. All eighth grade students take the class that lasts two marking periods and is taught by several teachers. Along with the wood shop portion of the class students also take a drafting section, a web design portion where students design print and cut a calendar, and students also design a mouse trap car or bridge and learn to program a LEGO robot. Manack along with the other Tech Ed teachers such as Tim Dzurko, Jim Heffelfinger and Mark Hutchison teach the eighth grade students along with a few ninth grade electives. Manack and Dzurko also lead the TSA (Technology Student Association) at the junior high.
Emily Eirhart, an eighth grade student, sands one of her pieces of wood with a palm sander before applying coat polyurethane. “I really enjoyed getting to cut the wood with the different saws and tools,” Eirhart said. Photo by Emily Simmons
Eighth grade students in technology education class work on creating a charging station box in the workshop part of the class. Students spent about a month working on their projects. Photo by Emily Simmons.Students in eighth grade Tech Ed. classes place multiple coats of polyurethane on their sanded wood pieces. The coats took about a day to dry in between layers. Photo by Emily Simmons.Eighth grade teacher, Ms. Manack, helps students with cutting their boards. before they apply their polyurethane. The students were required to use safety precautions and goggles when operating the wood machines. Photo by Emily Simmons.Bailey Hoover and a fellow eighth grade student work on sanding their wood pieces in technology education class. This is one of many steps students had to complete in order to make and assemble the charging station. Photo by Emily Simmons.
An eighth grade student applies a final layer of polyurethane to her wood pieces. In the class students work with real professional grade tools such palm sanders, table saws and planners. Photo by Sarah HarmonEighth grade students apply the last polyurethane coat before they can inscribe their name into the wood as well as put it together. The students use a water based polyurethane in order to seal the wood once it has been cut and sanded. Photo by Sarah HarmonZac Stosch shows his finished front piece to his project that he engraved by using a computer controlled laser. Students in the class also must learn how to use the tools and proper safety rules. Photo by Sarah HarmonAn eighth grade student carefully sands over her board one last time before finishing and assembling the project. Over the course of making the project, students have learned how to use several pieces of machinery with the help of their teacher. Photo by Sarah HarmonOne of the students choose to have her nickname put on the front board of her project, she wipes it down with a damp paper towel to wipe of any left over wood particles. Students had the option to put names, nicknames, or almost anything they wanted on their charging station. Photo by Sarah Harmon
Marissa Kessler an eighth grade student in Ms. Manacks tech ed class finishes her project after assembling it and going through the entire process of making and cutting it from a single plank of wood. This is the finished product of what students in the class spend time making throughout the duration they are in this rotation of technology education class. Photo by Sarah Harmon
