I am Mike Lakin Industrial Technology Department Chair at Carroll High School. I am starting my thirty-first year of teaching and could not be more thankful to have taught at Carroll, and most importantly, be more blessed to have taught so many wonderful students. 
 

The two projects you see are the shelf from Woodworking I and the stool from Woodworking II, the first projects students will build this semester. The shelf project introduces students to basic woodworking techniques like measuring and cutting and equipment like the radial arm saw, joiner, table saw, miter saw, router, drill press, band saw, planer, nail gun, biscuit joiner, and drills. They will also learn all of the procedures for assembly and finishing in order to take the project from concept to completion.  The stool project helps students refine their skills and abilities with all of the equipment.

Through generous donations, we have been able to purchase two Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines for the woodshop this year, which give the students the ability to cut out more than 5,000 designs. The students employ many cross-curriculum skills from computer science and engineering to use the CNC machines.

The skills that students learn in woodshop are extremely important for several reasons. First, they will learn and improve these skills for many uses throughout their lives, especially as future homeowners. These classes also prepare students who are considering a career in the trades. As most people know, these fields are in desperate need of people, and most skilled trades pay well into the six figures. Whatever my students choose to do in the future, I know they will retain many of the lessons they have learned in woodworking.

Thanks, and I hope you have enjoyed my first ever blog.