TOOLS FOR THE TRADE: Refining Their Skills
June 28, 2018
Summer Academy Helps Spark Hands-On Interest In Students
By KENDRA STRAWDERMAN
For the Daily News-Record 6/28/18
HARRISONBURG — For Cai Johnstone-Yellin, taking a carpentry class at Massanutten Technical Center’s Summer Academy meant more than just learning to cut, drill and hammer.
Cai, a rising sixth-grader at Wilbur Pence Middle School, was inspired to take the class because his late grandfather worked in construction.
“My family comes from a long line of builders,” he said.
The Summer Academy is a skills-based program at MTC for rising sixth- through ninth-graders in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. MTC, jointly run by the city and county schools divisions, provides career and technical education to high school students as well as adult certificate programs.
The weeklong summer program offers 12 classes in total, including criminal justice, cosmetology and 3D visual effects and animation.
Jerry Arbogast teaches building maintenance at MTC, a hands-on class for students with special needs. This summer, Arbogast is teaching a new carpentry class at the Summer Academy in which students learn carpentry skills by building Adirondack chairs.
The students first learn about safety before learning how to build the chair in steps.
Arbogast builds a model chair step by step and the students watch and copy what they learn on the chairs they’re building.
“They’re getting a handson experience, and that’s what they need more than anything,” Arbogast said. “They’re learning a skill.”
Chris Dalton, MTC’s assistant director, said the summer program has been running for roughly a decade. This year, the program reached record enrollment with 155 students, Dalton said.
“Some kids remember the camp, want to learn more, and come back for two to three years,” he said.
This is the second year at the academy for Ben Kettelkamp, a rising Spotswood High School freshman. Ben chose to come back for a second year to the collision repair class to learn more and have fun.
“Before, I didn’t know anything, but, now, I have skills like priming, painting, and sanding,” he said.
He found out about MTC through a school field trip to the technical center and plans to continue to develop his skills in collision repair in high school.
According to Dalton, the hope is that the middle schoolers will get a taste of MTC through the Summer Academy and choose to return when they become sophomores to attend one of the technical school’s 22 high school programs.
Exposing kids to technical skills early on can help spark a hands-on interest.
“It’s amazing what a small workforce of children can do,” Cai said.
ABOVE: Massanutten Technical Center instructor Lee Smith teaches middle school students about small engine repair during the Summer Academy on Tuesday afternoon. BELOW: Rising Turner Ashby freshmen Ethan Eye (left) and Marcus Shumeyko, both 14, work on sanding barn stars at Tuesday’s academy.
Rising Wilbur S. Pence Middle School sixth- grader Sam Morton, 11, and rising Elkton Middle School sixth- grader Hayden Fox, 11, work together on sanding an Adirondack chair during a carpentry class through the Massanutten Technical Center Summer Academy Tuesday morning.
By KENDRA STRAWDERMAN
For the Daily News-Record 6/28/18
HARRISONBURG — For Cai Johnstone-Yellin, taking a carpentry class at Massanutten Technical Center’s Summer Academy meant more than just learning to cut, drill and hammer.
Cai, a rising sixth-grader at Wilbur Pence Middle School, was inspired to take the class because his late grandfather worked in construction.
“My family comes from a long line of builders,” he said.
The Summer Academy is a skills-based program at MTC for rising sixth- through ninth-graders in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. MTC, jointly run by the city and county schools divisions, provides career and technical education to high school students as well as adult certificate programs.
The weeklong summer program offers 12 classes in total, including criminal justice, cosmetology and 3D visual effects and animation.
Jerry Arbogast teaches building maintenance at MTC, a hands-on class for students with special needs. This summer, Arbogast is teaching a new carpentry class at the Summer Academy in which students learn carpentry skills by building Adirondack chairs.
The students first learn about safety before learning how to build the chair in steps.
Arbogast builds a model chair step by step and the students watch and copy what they learn on the chairs they’re building.
“They’re getting a handson experience, and that’s what they need more than anything,” Arbogast said. “They’re learning a skill.”
Chris Dalton, MTC’s assistant director, said the summer program has been running for roughly a decade. This year, the program reached record enrollment with 155 students, Dalton said.
“Some kids remember the camp, want to learn more, and come back for two to three years,” he said.
This is the second year at the academy for Ben Kettelkamp, a rising Spotswood High School freshman. Ben chose to come back for a second year to the collision repair class to learn more and have fun.
“Before, I didn’t know anything, but, now, I have skills like priming, painting, and sanding,” he said.
He found out about MTC through a school field trip to the technical center and plans to continue to develop his skills in collision repair in high school.
According to Dalton, the hope is that the middle schoolers will get a taste of MTC through the Summer Academy and choose to return when they become sophomores to attend one of the technical school’s 22 high school programs.
Exposing kids to technical skills early on can help spark a hands-on interest.
“It’s amazing what a small workforce of children can do,” Cai said.
ABOVE: Massanutten Technical Center instructor Lee Smith teaches middle school students about small engine repair during the Summer Academy on Tuesday afternoon. BELOW: Rising Turner Ashby freshmen Ethan Eye (left) and Marcus Shumeyko, both 14, work on sanding barn stars at Tuesday’s academy.
Rising Wilbur S. Pence Middle School sixth- grader Sam Morton, 11, and rising Elkton Middle School sixth- grader Hayden Fox, 11, work together on sanding an Adirondack chair during a carpentry class through the Massanutten Technical Center Summer Academy Tuesday morning.
