6 | MAY 2022
NEWS
Hawkeye
CARPENTRY CLASS GIVES STUDENT Story by Ritika Khanal Photos by Seras Bryner Graphics by Phuong Lam HAWKEYE STAFF
When Office of Public Instruction (OSPI) Superintendent Chris Reykdal imagined the new CTE pathways in action, he imagined classes in which students could work hands-on and develop skills that they could then transfer into a career right out of high school. Today, the two-year interdistrict carpentry program at MTHS does just that. Math class, in most people’s eyes, consists of rows of desks, a teacher in front of the room and students with a textbook or a worksheet solving problems. However, it takes only one visit to the carpentry classroom at MTHS to see a different way of learning entirely. While students are gaining a math credit by taking the class, their days do not consist of math worksheets or sitting at desks. Each day, they work to develop carpentry skills, working in a team to build tiny homes from the ground up. The concept for the class began long ago, when the Lynnwood Rotary Club began a partnership with Edmonds College. “From my understanding, the Lynnwood Rotary Club started this program 48 years ago,” carpentry instructor Tony Wilson said. “They started and created this program for students to build duplexes through the classroom so they could leave the classroom with an understanding of how to build a house.” Then, not too long ago, the Edmonds School District (ESD) brought the program to MTHS, making it an interdistrict program allowing students from other high schools to take the class, too. However, a new aspect was implemented into the program. Instead of building duplexes, ESD students began developing their carpentry skills by building tiny homes, right on campus. “This program didn’t always have the tiny house aspect to it. It’s a fairly new part of this program, so that’s also why I’m really excited about it,” Wilson said. “I get to be a part of that process and put my own stamp on it.” Wilson began teaching the class in the beginning of the 202122 school year. Throughout his time teaching, his students began Senior Cody Snow secures the center roof beam of one of the tiny houses being constructed for the carpentry class.
building two tiny homes of their own, while also finishing an inherited tiny home that had not been completed from the previous year’s group of students due to the pandemic. When Wilson and his first-year carpentry students inherited the tiny home, it had only been sheathed, meaning that all of the plywood was still on it. As a result, instead of learning how to build a house from the beginning, students put on the door, worked on the flooring, interior walls, insolation, roofing and worked to put the finishing touches on it. “I’m really grateful for my first-year students this year, because to start learning carpentry on that level instead of learning from the ground up is harder,” Wilson said. Although the process may have been a bit more difficult, Wilson’s students were more than up for the challenge. The inherited home is set to be fully complete before the end of the school year, and Wilson hopes that the other two will be close, too. Once complete, the homes will be donated to the Seattle Low Income Housing Institute. “We donate these tiny homes to this program that provides transitional housing for families in struggle, or people that maybe need a place to live,” Wilson said. “It’s not intentional for the tiny houses to be permanent living situations, but providing space for families or people to get back into our communities and hopefully empowering them to make bigger steps and have their own space in the near future.” For the students, knowing that the work they are doing is directly making an impact on the community has been incredibly motivating. “Somebody will live in these [tiny homes] eventually, and it will hopefully bring a positive impact to their lives and be able to help them better themselves,” senior Cody Snow said. ”It feels really good to be able to come here every day and know that you’re not just building something that might get thrown away or not used.” However, before the building can begin, students must first learn the basics. Therefore, the beginning of the year is devoted to working together as a class to get comfortable with the tools and procedures that carpenters need on the job each and every single day. First, they learn about the importance of different types of safety equipment. Then, they begin learning to use hand tools. After the class as a whole can demonstrate that they have the skills and abilities to use hand tools, Wilson moves on to power tools, which include chop saws, skill saws and table saws. He then creates simple assignments to teach his students how to read a tape measure, how to read a speed square and how to handle the basic tools used on the jobsite every day. Many items are shipped to MTHS throughout the school year. Among them are carpentry materials, including 16 feet of lumber and full sheets of plywood. After students have demonstrated their ability to use the tools safely and efficiently, Wilson begins to help them read blueprints so that they can start cutting the material into the dimensions they will need to begin the building process. “We get shipments of materials at the school in very large dimensions,” Wilson said. “I let our students start from there, and I help them learn how to read blueprints so that they can then cut the lumber to dimensions and then put together the tiny house.” However, the class’s pacing depends heavily on the students. Wilson makes
an effort to ensure that everyone is on work together throughout the entiret According to Wilson, a tiny home c months, but there is no set timeline fo the size of his classes and their collect “We can probably build tiny houses on the speed of learning of the group, said. Throughout the 2021-22 school yea pentry students. Therefore, they have skills while building tiny homes on ca
