Tech project shows kids how to nail down success

LYNN – The carpentry and woodworking trade involves a lot of specialties that require a variety of different skills.And at Lynn Tech, students learn them all.They’ve built end tables, garden benches, radiator covers and custom-crafted pizza paddles.But the centerpiece of the shop is the one-bedroom ranch house students are building in a room next to the main shop.”We started the house a year ago,” said carpentry teacher Edward “Hutch” Hutchinson as he looked over the some of the work done in the kitchen. “We started with a wooden foundation, but we painted it gray to look like concrete. We built this from the ground up.”Juniors and seniors in the program designed and framed the one-story home which has plenty of windows and floor space.Students recently hung sheet rock, measuring and cutting out pieces for light switches and fixtures so the electrical shop students could finish the wiring.Curriculum in vocational education has its own set of state standards and requirements.Tom Tone, who co-teaches the carpentry shop with Hutchinson, said the house project covers a lot of that ground.”It’s everything you need to do in terms of house construction,” said Tone. “This project is the best way to reach all of those curriculum strands.”Like most of the students in the shop, Chinda Nevo said the house is a great way to get some hands-on experience in building”I want to learn everything that has to do with carpentry,” said Nevo, a junior and one of only two girls studying carpentry.Still, Nevo’s mom wasn’t so sure carpentry was the best choice, particularly for a girl.Her opinion changed when Nevo brought home a plant holder she made in class.”She loved it,” said Nevo.”She’s really proud of me, and she’s seen what I can do.”Mike Morrison said he decided on carpentry because that’s what his brother does.Josh Rockwood said when he first started some of the equipment was a little intimidating.But that was last year when he was a sophomore. Now, Rockwood’s favorite job is working with a router, a woodworking tool that cuts grooves and shapes wooden pieces.Like Rockwood, Katie O’Keefe also likes the design challenges that come with woodworking.”I like making stuff, it’s like putting a puzzle together,” she said.O’Keefe said construction is great, but she’ll probably end up doing more creative work with wood.Tone said the ranch house project has been a great way to teach students to tools of the trade”The project incorporates the use of just about every tool we have in the shop,” he said.Both Hutchinson and Tone said that like all programs at Tech, the carpentry shop does its best to stay up-to-date with the job market.Although the housing market has slowed, there is still plenty of work in repairs, restoration and renovation.And that’s good news for Kenny Leblanc who likes just about any carpentry challenge his teachers toss at him.”I want to learn it all,” said Leblanc.Leblanc also has plenty of respect for the field. And he’s long past worrying about anyone who might consider the education he’s getting at the Tech carpentry shop as something less than what other kids get from a four-year college prep program at a traditional high school.”I know this girl from St Mary’s,” said Leblanc. “She graduated last year, and now she works in an Apple store.”