Projects and work underway in the woodshop inside C-5. PHOTO BY Jessica Randhawa
Tools and machines of all different shapes and sizes line the woodshop, located at the back of the C building in a spot many have never visited. Some are big and some are small, some look heavy and others look light. Different projects appear throughout the shop with construction tech students working to finish each project.
“I like working with wood and putting stuff together so this class is great,” Blake Ablen said.
Construction tech students do not always follow a certain order when it comes to doing things compared to the rigid curriculum in some core academic classes..
“Construction tech is a different kind of class; there is always something new to work on, because it is open to anything. We get odd projects. We build bookshelves, sheds and make the award plaques for the sports,” Mr. Alek Ustaszewski said.
Currently the construction tech class is working on building guitars.
“We are building the guitars just for fun. There is no special purpose for them; the students get to make them, so when they are finished building them, they will get to keep the guitars,” Ustaszewski said.
The guitar project is a popular one, even though the class is not related to music. Students are doing what they want with the guitars, some know how to play them while others have no clue. Some are going to keep them and others will give them away.
“I don’t know how to play the guitar, and I don’t think I want to learn how to play it, either. I think it will be more of a decoration piece or something to show off to to people,” Ablen said.
This project and others are included in the course fee. Beyond take-home projects like the guitars and jewelry boxes or stools, Ustaszewski often gets requests from staff members for special projects or items needed around campus. Because the class is so diverse and open, students make multiple projects and everyone has their favorites.
Ustaszewski said, “My favorite project that we made in this class was the podium but it is always fun making the other things as well.”
BY Jessica Randhawa
