Woodworking far more than trade at Mahar

ORANGE - The pursuit of knowledge is noisy here. It shrieks, clangs and buzzes in teacher John Kelley's room. Like a kindly wizard, Kelley raises his voice above the din to direct his thoughtful apprentices whose tools make metallic music as they heed the call of their muses.

They push wood into the thin, sharp blades of scroll saws, press hard against lathes that gouge depressions in bowls. They hunch over tools, creating fantastically-detailed landscapes by precisely burning dark areas onto planks of pale pine.

The apprentices work lost in thought, calculating measurements for a link arm for a flywheel machine, sanding a tabletop until it is mirror smooth, imagining the line of a cardinal's wing for an intarsia that will be a gift when the puzzle of pieces is done. The electricity of their creativity fills the air

This is what used to be called high school wood shop.

Here at Ralph C. Mahar Regional School, the "trade" course re-christened "Wood Art and Design Technology" is a crucible of creativity, concentration, skill and pride. At 10 a.m., none of the 15-plus students yawn, hunker lifelessly in a classroom chair or give a blank stare when asked to talk about their work.

Senior Lane Wilson has been woodburning a Roman scene on pine for six months. He doesn't rush, knows that to get what he wants, he must work with focus and precision.

Now in his fourth year in this class, Lane has three wood-burned pieces at home. "I do one a year. It takes that long. I keep them all. This will be a hobby for me, something I can pass on to my children," he says.

At the same table, sophomore Jeremy Songer carefully burns the tip of a leaf into his jungle scene. This is his third year in the class. He smiles at the obvious conclusion that he must "like it a lot."

"I'm not into art but I like to draw," Jeremy says. "Woodworking is something I can do that's like drawing."

Creating objects of usefulness and beauty is just one of the outcomes of diligent work for students in this class. As they move through the processes of planning, organizing and manual work, they learn the value of quality, of stick-to-itiveness and of mastering a bankable skill.

"They learn patience," says Kelley. "Today, most kids don't get that."

Kelley, who has taught at Mahar for 20 years, says that he demands a lot of his students. He conducts tests in which students write complete descriptions of how the planers, joiners, saws, routers, sanders and other machinery they use work; how to use them safely and repair them. "They write reports on all of their projects. They have to tell me what they're going to do and how they're going to do it from start to finish," he says. "That's how it relates to English class. This is how we bring this class into MCAS format."

Kelley said the school has added art, design and technology aspects to the former woodworking course to interest a wider range of students and to meet state requirements.

"I had to change it to make it survive," he explains. He faults increasing student interest in "sitting in front of computers" and less emphasis on "hands-on" work for declining interest in what are often called "tech" courses. "Here we keep this class in the mainstream of the school so kids can try it and see if they like it," Kelley said. Now his classes are "the highest elective in the school according to the guidance office," with more than 100 students enrolled in it each session.

"Today's world needs kids like these," Kelley said. "Everybody stresses academics, but we need people who know how to build, how to use a hammer and nails."

Junior Tony Flematti, a School Choice student from Athol, said he "likes be able to build things." Kelley says Tony is an "upper level student who has enough experience to do a lot on his own." He is in the computer room of the larger classroom searching Web sites for ideas.

"I want to do a project without plans," Tony said. "My dad was a carpenter. I helped him build some houses. I've been around machines like this all my life." The affable student thinks he'll buy a scroll saw after he graduates and build things "as a side job."

"We want kids to know that they can do this as a business," Kelley said, "to know there is just reward for hard work, to realize the value of what they do."

Eleventh-grade student Amanda Chenausky agrees with her teacher that "woodworking is hard work. It takes time. It's a challenge." But having taken the class for four years now, she immediately hits on another really good reason to be here: "It's fun."