[TheForge] Re: Industrial Arts, Still Alive

[Ralph Sproul]

     Joshua,
                    Thanks for the job your doing, and you should be proud
of it. Your doing a good thing.   I never realized that there were no
teachers being trained in these fields - but it only makes sense if many
places are dropping the cirriculum.
        I know Ferris State College in Big Rapids, Michigan has become a
great place to get a Welding certificate or education in metalurgy.  They
used to offer Body Shop, Machine Tool, Desiel Theory, etc.  when I went
there, are they a school you could check with.

Ralph


----- Original Message -----
From: <Fnanvil@aol.com>
To: <theforge@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 9:40 PM
Subject: [TheForge] Re: Industrial Arts, Still Alive


> Please do not get the impression that IA is dead everywhere.  I am still a
> traditional Metal Shop teacher at a large regional school in NJ.  I have
just
> completed my 25th year.  I am lucky that my area is a largely agricultural
> area that is just starting to get the large housing developments that are
> common in NJ.  We still have a metal, wood, auto, graphics and mechanical
> drawing shop.  The mechanical drawing shop still does hand drawings to
start,
> but quickly go into AutoCad.  The graphic shop uses computers for all
layout
> work, and web site design.
>
> The school has supported our program and the administration knows that the
> students need an opportunity to work with their hands.  Many students are
> enrolled.  The biggest problem our department faces is the aging and
> retirement of the shop teachers.  The youngest one has 21 years in, the
> oldest has 34 years.   As we retire, the shops will start to close-due to
the
> lack of being able to replace us.  Colleges across the country dropped the
> teacher education programs in the early 1990's as shops were being
> eliminated.  So the end result is that even if school want to keep or
start a
> program today, there are no young qualified teachers being produced by
> colleges today.
>
> We did change our department name to "Technology Education," but did not
> change our programs.   We have attempted to add new technology where we
can.
> My metal shop still does aluminum foundry work, hand forging, welding,
sheet
> metal forming, basic lathe and mill machining, and a lot of fabrication.
I
> have attempted to recruit a few of my best students to look into "shop
> teaching" as a career.  The only problem I have is pointing them to a
college
> that still has an "Industrial Arts Education" program.  If anyone is aware
of
> such a program anywhere in the USA, please let me know.
>
> Joshua Kavett
> Proud to be a Shop Teacher
>
> Founder, Fisher & Norris Factory Museum
> Hope to open some time in the next 12 months.
> _______________________________________________
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith@hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
>
>