For the 2009-2010 school year TRADART has partnered with the following entities in the operation of the Tools for Schools program:
· Carpinteria and Santa Barbara area junior and senior high schools
· Los Robles High School/Los Prietos Boys' Camp
· The Santa Barbara Foundation
· Santa Barbara Contractors Association
· Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Partners In Education
· Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Regional Occupational Program
TRADART’s main goals through these partnerships is to increase the skills and skill-levels students learn and to define a construction technology pathway from the junior high school, the high school to the community college and to the world of work. A related goal is to increase the visibility and importance of the wood shop and construction technology classes at the junior and senior high schools and the community college.
TRADART board members have met with the teachers as a group a number of times to clarify this year’s individual goals which include:
· Administering a pre and post test to enrolled students to quantify student knowledge gained by taking the classes.
· Administering a satisfaction survey to students to determine the usefulness of the class.
· Creating projects with the materials and tools provided through the Tools for Schools program that can be used by the community or school.
· Using guest speakers-demonstrators from industry on a monthly basis to provide students with “real world” applications.
· Providing monthly job seeking and job keeping skills development units to students.
· Identifying students who are prepared to enroll in a voluntary after school job readiness training class and/or paid internship over the summer.
TRADART Foundation's Tools for Schools program directly served 1,516 students during the 2009-10 school year. 913 students were from three local junior high schools and 603 students were from five local senior high schools.
Please take a look below to see what is happening this year at the various school sites.
Carpinteria High School Teacher - John Avila
Community projects built by students this year include: worm buns, tool/tack shed, animal pens, garden boxes, livestock trailer, and plumbing projects.
Dos Pueblos High School Teacher - Mike Ibach
Students taking Mike Ibach's Wood and Construction Tech classes have been busy working on individual projects this year. For this year's community project the Construction Tech students completed the roofing on a storage shed at the beginning of the year. They then built a garage for the campus security vehicles.
Goleta Valley Junior High School Teacher - Bill Gourley
Teacher Bill Gourley and his crew of eager junior high school students decided to upgrade their campus by removing and replacing old and badly damaged benches that were located throughout the campus. Now students can safely sit and eat their lunch without having to worry about splinters. Shown below are some before and after pictures of the project:
Mr. Gourley's students have also been making individual items for their own personal use. Take a look at these professional-looking items that have been created by students who had no experience with wood before enrolling in the class this year. Pretty amazing!
La Cumbre Junior High School Teacher - Bradley Snider
Students taking Bradley Snider's Wood shop classes have been enjoying their hands-on experiences by making something practical such as cutting boards, among other items. Most students have never had experience working with wood or using hand and power tools used in the shop. This year's community project involved the students designing and making wooden puzzles which were donated to Adams Elementary School to help spark student interest in taking wood shop classes at La Cumbre when the students graduate.
Los Robles High School/Los Prietos Boys' Camp Teacher - Richard Anderson, Ph.D.
The following note from instructor, Richard Anderson, explains what has been taking place at his school site this year:
Thanks to Tradart, the Construction Technology Program at Los Prietos Boys Camp has had a very successful year. We’ve used the tools and supplies that Tradart donated to construct two exercise structures for every class. The structures include a joisted floor and frame walls including a window and door frame, and we sheet the walls and install a window. We’re spending a lot of time working on other basic skills, like measuring, nailing, cutting and carrying, and so we don’t have time to build a roof on the structures in the eight weeks we have for each class. They are complete framed buildings in every other respect. The materials are reused for each class. The donated materials have allowed more than 100 Camp minors to have the experience of framing a building. They’ve learned the basics of framing, the skills required to build buildings, and safety and work habits that will make them valuable employees. None of this would be possible without the tools and materials donated by Tradart
The students also built a badly needed laundry shed for the camp as their community project.
San Marcos High School Teacher - Fred Petrucci
Students taking Fred Petrucci's Wood and Construction Tech classes have been busy working on individual projects this year. Building a gazebo for the school's quad is this year's community project.
Individual projects include cedar chests and adirondack-style chairs.
Santa Barbara High School Teachers - Joel Hoffmann & Peter Hathaway
Under the excellent supervision of teachers Joel Hoffmann and Peter Hathaway, students at Santa Barbara High School have used the tools and supplies provided through TRADART’s Tools for Schools program for doing work on the following community projects this year:
· Made and painted wooden toys for donation to the Unity Shoppe’s Toys for Tots program
· Restored damaged wood tabletops and legs for teachers at Santa Barbara High
· Cleaned and made minor restorations to an 200+ year old bench or pew which may have been part of the original Presidio (it is currently being identified)
Built some risers for the table in the teachers' work room.
Students also built the screen door frame pictured below for a Cinco De Mayo food booth. The Cinco De Mayo celebration was held at De La Guerra Plaza on May 1.
In addition to the community projects students have been involved with this year they have also built small lighthouses for their own use, built tables using an old intricate table as a model and have been working on other individual projects commensurate with their ability levels. SBHS wood shop classes exhibited their projects at the Santa Barbara Fair and Expo at Earl Warren Showgrounds from April 28 through May 2.
This spring students will be building a corner structure which will let them learn construction technology skills such as framing, nailing, installation of drywall, taping and other hands-on skills. Plumbing and electrical installation will also be taught.
Santa Barbara Junior High School Teacher - Paul Betz
Students taking Paul Betz's Wood shop classes have been making a variety of class projects ranging from cutting boards to jewelry boxes, among others. As is typical for this age group, most students have had no previous experience working with wood or using hand and power tools.
Photo courtesy of The Santa Ynez Valley Journal (
