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EDUCATION
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£ Learning forging a love for
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chapelhillmagazine.com
November/December 2023
Meet a versatile teacher with a passion for industrial arts
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By A nna-R hesa Verso la Photography by J ohn Mic h a el Sim ps on
Eight high school juniors at Emerson Waldorf School form a semicircle in front of an anvil and a hissing forge. One of the students, Nico Peacock, 16, wears a heavy, heat-resistant apron, protective eyewear and thick leather gloves as he grips metal tongs to hold a steel rod. Their teacher, Bill Ogonowski, demonstrates how to punch a hole in the glowing metal. Each student would learn to forge their own iron hook as their first project in the beginner blacksmithing class. Not many high schools have their own on-site forge. Nor do many boast of affable teachers like Bill, also known as “Mr. O,” who possesses an uncommon set of skills such as blacksmithing, woodworking and dramaturgy. This is his second year on the faculty, though he volunteered for the last several years to help on numerous projects with his mentors, Peter Moyers (woodworking)