Educators say woodworking classes teach life skills

Post date: Apr 23, 2011 11:26:26 PM

After 38 years of teaching wood shop, veteran instructor James "Woody" Wilson no longer smells the distinct scents of wood and sawdust. He's just become too used to them.Wilson is a believer in the simple but important things that shop class teaches — arithmetic, for instance, needed for measuring pieces of wood and the architectural design behind the average height from the floor at which doorknobs are anchored.

"We're teaching the kids to get their eyes, heads and hands to work together," he said. Wood shop classes persevere in a lot of secondary schools despite the crush of growing technology. In some cases, classes are being cut back, but students are still flocking to sign up for them.

http://www.app.com/article/20110419/NJNEWS15/104190326/Educators-say-woodworking-classes-teach-life-skills