Woodworking cut from curriculum

As students rush to the the science building, few notice room S01 across from the music room, nestled in the back corner of campus next to the weight room. Even fewer have noticed that the woodworking class, which once convened there, is now gone.

Since fewer students signed up for the classes than needed, woodworking will not be offered in the course selection starting this fall.

“There is a formula they use to determine whether they have enough students enrolled in a class to warrant the cost of the class,” assistant principal Kerry Mohnike said. “And if they don’t, they try to keep the electives running but if the class dips below 20, it is really hard to keep the class running.”

Other applied art classes have also been cut before because of low enrollment. SHS once had a whole host of applied arts classes, ranging from engineering and computer-assisted design (CAD) to autoshop, which are no longer offered.

According to Mohnike, today’s students are placing more emphasis on academic classes rather than on applied arts, a major reason for the loss of hands-on applied arts courses.

“Over the years we lost funding for them and now we don’t have them,” said Mohnike. “We have had this huge push from our student population to take the more academic classes, so we offer more APs than we used to have. It has just been a cultural shift.”

Junior Ivan France, who took woodworking last year, questions the lack of applied arts classes that challenge students explore beyond academics.

“It is kind of pitiful that we don’t have anybody that actually wants to gain some hands-on experience,” France said. “[Woodworking] was the only practical hands-on class that we had, and now it is gone.”

France believes that in contrast to the numerous visual arts electives that are offered, hands-on applied arts are more important.

“It is a very practical class, as opposed to art, where you draw some stuff and it is gone,” France said.

Media Arts teacher Tony Palma previously taught woodworking his first few years as a teacher at SHS and also believes that the loss of the woodworking class prevents students from experiencing many of the benefits of learning these skills.

“I think [woodworking] is a great program to have on campus and a great opportunity for students to learn,” Palma said. “There are a lot of great things that can come out it, it is personally rewarding, gives students the opportunity to learn life skills that will be valuable to them and to express themselves.”

Palma’s experience with students over the years has shown him how rewarding and practical the class can be for students.

“One student brought in a cabinet door—his parents were out of town, and he had broken it,” Palma said. “So he came in with the door and said, ‘I have to fix this before my parents get back,’ so we reassembled it and fixed it and it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it.”

Palma hopes that the program will return if signups increase next year, but as of now, the administration does not have plans regarding the futures of the woodworking class or the woodshop classroom, a huge area with table saws and other large equipment. If there continues to be no interest, the woodshop may be dismantled and used for other purposes.

“We are going to evaluate over the course of the year and decide what to do with that space and with that class,” assistant principal Brian Safine said.