Carving out new gifts; FOT creates Christmas presents

      In the foundations of technology (FOT) classes, students had the opportunity to create new projects related to Christmas. This year, there are several new ideas that the classes get to toy around with.

     For the past couple of years, FOT teacher Mr. Timothy Pistel has been finding more fun ways to teach a specific computer software that is a requirement to teach. CAD stands for computer aided drafting, and students use a specific app called Alt Shape. 

     Pistel explained, “students have a lot of options on what they can make. In the past, there have been Christmas trees, snowflakes, ornaments, and anything else they would want to make that is holiday related.” Designers plan out their projects using CAD, then make the physical structure after they’re finished designing. 

      If students are able to pay for the materials provided, they are allowed to take their creation home. Pistel explained, “there are a lot of projects that have mistakes in them, and that is okay. The ones that are good enough to sell, we put them up for sale for about 20% more than the materials to make profit or even break even.” 

     The money earned from the projects is put back in the funding account for the class, so if tools or materials break, there will be money to help pay for more. Overall, the whole experience takes at least three weeks for the planning, preparation, and building. 

     Pistel said, “usually students more look forward to the actually building part, but not so much the planning part, because it is a lot more challenging.” Mr. Andrew Thomson adds, “as a teacher, I enjoy when students have a sense of accomplishment after they’re done with their project. Some think it’s cool to have used bigger tools that are used in the real world, not usually used at school,” 

     This year, the teens are picking a project they would want to design, then going back from there and creating a 3-D model to base the design off of. Pistel mentioned, “we, as teachers, wanted to make this a fun process, but also have there be a pay-off in the end after the class is finished the lesson.” 

     During December, Thomson explained they, “are going to start creating a Christmas village out of wood using the laser cutter.” He explained the purpose of this is to, “show the design process and show what people go through to produce/sell different items, but then also at the same time, demonstrate how the skills we learn in class can be applied to the real world and a possible future career.”