Woodshop teacher Randy Hurley educates students about woodworking while always keeping safety in mind. Before students are allowed to use any equipment, they spend a week learning the names of all the tools and, more importantly, the steps students must take to be safe.

After the first week, students then start on their first project: a foot stool. This project has been designed to allow students to get familiar with many different types of told used in woodworking. After students complete the footstool they are then allowed and encouraged to work on various creations of their own choosing.

These custom projects can vary in difficulty from a simple pencil holder to a fully functional poker table that will double as a dining table.

Eight grade student Andrew Moore chose to create a chessboard out of white maple and walnut wood. He said his family only has a cardboard chess set at home and wanted to give the family a better one.

“Its taken about four months to create the board,” Moore said. “I’ve done hard projects before so I thought it would be fairly easy to do but I found it wasn’t as easy as I assumed. The hardest part was making the wooden framing inside the chessboard to store the pieces.”

The chessboard cost him around $150 but he has also created a piano bench, custom wood pens, crafted a chest, which he burned for effect, a bench and a tool box.

This is Moore’s second year in woodshop and shows and increasing interest in continuing the trade. He says he has just about mastered the language of woodshop.

“Woodshop is interesting because I am learning the skills and I like being able to work with wood and use power tools,” Moore said. “I love using the bandsaw because its easy to use and a quick way to cut wood. While it may be dangerous, and if I slip and can cut myself, I am careful and have not been hurt at all because Mr. Hurley is a great teacher.

“Mr. Hurley is a good woodshop teacher because he shows us how to use the tools and is not afraid to stop us if we are doing something wrong. He also lets us think on our own which gives us confidence to do the work.”

Moore said the hardest part about woodshop was interpreting the instructions on how to use the tools and create a project. However, his teacher helped him overcome this obstacle.

“I couldn’t read the diagrams or didn’t know how to read them before I started the class,” Moore said. Mr. Hurley showed me all the woodshop terms and language. He uses the words himself and then lets me go and then I use them myself and now I know them.”

While getting up early every day is the hardest part of woodshop class for most, Moore said the 7 a.m. start is tough but he enjoys working with the other students and working side-by-side on the projects.

“I joined the class [wood shop] to learn life skills like working with wood,” Moore said, “and I recommend woodshop because it’s a fun class; you can also meet fellow students from grades outside of your own.”

For more information on woodshop, check out Veteran woodworker reinforces hobby through projects (VIDEO) and/or Woodshop educates, offers creative outlet or contact the woodshop teacher, Randy Hurley, through the high school office: 559.299.1695.