Woodshop Goes the Way of Home-Ec
With no more woodworking class, Board of Ed votes to get rid of the the equipment.
Woodshop at Millburn High School has officially gone the way of home economics and other hands-on training classes that have been dropped through the years, as the world becomes more high-tech.
The Millburn Board of Education voted this week to dispose of the equipment used in woodshop up until the teacher retired last year – but not without a discussion about the importance of classes like woodshop to teach skills that are going to be lost as well as for those students who don’t always excel academically.
“I remember having conversations with Special Ed about how important those classes are for those kids – the hands-on kinesthetic type of skills,” said Board Member Jean Pasternak. “What replaced woodshop?”
Board Members Mark Zucker and Lise Chapman didn't like the idea of losing woodworking either. Chapman said she knew the teacher had retired but didn't know that that meant the end of the class.
“I think the loss of woodshop is terrible,” said Board Member Mark Zucker. “Not every student is going to go to X-Y-Z University. I took woodshop, and I use it to this day, mostly for things around the house.”
Millburn Superintendent of Schools Dr. James Crisfield said the enrollment in the elective had dwindled and the equipment was antiquated.
“It evolved into something else over the years and didn’t really give kids the life skills you’re talking about,” he said.
Since the equipment is about 40 years old, the District needed to get rid of it regardless.
Chapman suggested looking into something that would be similar to woodshop – some kind of hands-on building course.
M OKeef
5:05 am on Saturday, July 30, 2011
How about Culinary Arts? Maybe they could get the CakeBoss to teach.
Carolyn Most
8:34 pm on Saturday, July 30, 2011
Woodshop may be a lost art but our kids need to learn to use their hands to make things. There has been discussion about robotics and this would not only provide some hands-on activity but support science and technology development as well.
JFC
10:08 pm on Saturday, July 30, 2011
This is ridiculous! With another year gone by generating $1.5 mil to $2.4 mil in surplus (yet again and even with the sudden loss of state aid) why won't the district purchase the needed equipment, hire the teacher and develop a curriculum that teaches the life skills all our kids need. Couldn't agree with Dr. Zucker more. Whether or not every student does go on to X-Y-Z University, lets hope they all go on to be independent adults with their own homes and families with the basic skills to do odd jobs around the house, whether for recreation or necessity. No surprise that antiquated equipment and a curriculum that doesn't meet the kids' needs would result in low enrollment. A perfect opportunity to make a program more efficient rather than eliminating it outright. I'm looking forward to the year when we end up with a surplus as a result of efficiencies rather than as a result of elimination of people, programs and services.
Matt Stewart
8:55 am on Sunday, July 31, 2011
Time to start a WoodShop Charter School!
mommakiddies
10:43 am on Sunday, July 31, 2011
I admit I am not all that familiar with the entire high school curriculum but I often think about some of the real life skills that I wish were taught in schools across the nation. Things that ideally, one is taught at home, but that sometimes go by the wayside in urban or poor areas.... Some of the classes I have fantasized teaching about have come from encountering young people who are lacking basic skills.... Stuff like "Fundamentals of Personal Banking"--balancing a checkbook, building wealth, making investments, buying a house, dealing with loans etc. Wouldn't that be useful?
Or how about a negotiations class--teaching kids how to produce win-win resuls. Or a personal effectiveness class--something that teachers how to get along well with others, have character etc.
Does anything like that exist in current high school curriculums anywhere even as electives?
Just my Sunday morning musings..... :-)