The Student News Site of Black River Falls High School

BRFHS Paw Print

The Student News Site of Black River Falls High School

BRFHS Paw Print

The Student News Site of Black River Falls High School

BRFHS Paw Print

Woods classes offer high-interest challenge

Because students have just completed signing up for new classes for the new 2013-2014 school year, students looked at some of the classes that are offered here. One of the classes offered is the two levels of Woods class.

“It is a very hands on class where you can build a lot of different things of different levels of difficulty,” said sophomore Justin Olson.

Woods 1 is the prerequisite to Woods 2 and it is an all year class that is taught by Dan Olson and Jeron Cassidy.

“Every day is spent on working on projects, if you need help you just ask other than that you spend most of the day constructing. For anyone who wants to take it you need to enjoy hands on projects and you have to have a lot of freedom during class. It is a really fun class and I enjoy it a lot,” said Olson.

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It is under the Architecture and Construction career cluster. The course defines Woods I as a class taught for “the student who interested in developing skills that will lead to employment and/or provide a lifelong interest in woodworking,”

“In woods class the students pick out what they want to do, they design them, and then they build them. Student’s opinion of the class really depends on how involved students get with their projects and how much they are willing to learn,” said Dan Olson, one of the two woods class teachers at BRF.

Woods 2 is ‘advanced woodworking’ in which students will build more advanced projects and are expected to incorporate computer numerical control. Students can build things like chairs, tables, grandfather clocks, and corner cabinets.

“I really like teaching this class, one of my favorite things to do is working with the students and their creativity and seeing how they improve through the years and class. There is a lot of talented kids we have and they can really show it through their work,” said Dan Olson.

Dan Olson has been teaching high school for 32 years overall, 29 years at BRFHS. All of those years have been spent teaching Woods Class.

“Me and (Jeron) Cassidy really try our best to bring out the best quality of work for our students and try to do it in a safe environment. We are going to be working with dangerous equipment so safety is first but we want the students to have a fun time,” said Dan Olson.

“This class is definitely worth taking, I have had fun in it since day one and I mostly enjoy the amount of freedom we have during class time instead of just sitting at a desk we get to focus on our own individual projects,” said sophomore Isaiah Newell.

“I would recommend taking this class to anyone who, obviously, enjoys building and constructing projects and is willing to work with different machines. Also you have to be willing to learn, it is a very fun class!” said Newell.

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Woods classes offer high-interest challenge