Crafting independence

Deirdre Newman

Has the proliferation of the Internet changed the way kids

perceive fun? Not if you walk into John Koch’s woodworking class at

Ensign Intermediate School.

There are no computers in sight -- just students working at

various stages of woodworking -- a tableau that could have easily

existed in the 19th or 20th century.

And yet the modern, tech-savvy kids in Koch’s class are quick to

admit how much they enjoy the class.

“It’s really fun because you get to make your own stuff,” said

Nicole Macias, 12, who had just used a drill press to insert a hole

into her soon-to-be pen holder.

Koch has been teaching woodworking at the school for 30 years,

imbuing his students with basic skills such as sawing, sanding and

finishing. On a more subtle level, one that they might not even

realize until they are older, he is cultivating their independence.

“They can do things later in life on their own instead of paying

someone to do it,” Koch said. “It teaches them to think, act on their

own and work safely.”

Koch mainly teaches seventh- graders and one eighth-grade advanced

class. The course is only half a semester long.

Students learn to use a drill press to make holes, a router to

shape the wood’s edges and a jigsaw to cut the wood into various

shapes.

On a recent Monday morning, the room was abuzz with activity. In

one section, a student carefully sanded his creation while in

another, a student wearing a special eye guard routed his wood as

chips went flying.

And the creations they spawn range from the practical to the

entertaining.

“It’s really cool because we make a cheese cutter and a

tic-tac-toe board. And I made a chessboard,” said Elizabeth Wheeler,

12.

But the woodshop class could be in limbo if Koch decides to retire

at the end of the school year, he said. He thinks it would be

difficult for the school to find a replacement.

And he thinks it’s a travesty that Newport Harbor High School --

the school that Ensign feeds into -- has discontinued its woodworking

classes.

“I think it’s important to have at the high school level because

not everyone is going to go to college,” Koch said.

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot

education writer Deirdre Newman visits a campus in the Newport-Mesa

area and writes about her experience.