After some searching Matt Carlson decided to become an English teacher, just under a decade later he wanted a change.

So, he moved from a classroom in Douglas to the Powell High School’s wood and welding shops.

“I just wanted to see kids in a sort of a different environment, because it’s drastically different in a shop than an English classroom,” Carlson said. “It’s less structured, it’s project based.”

After teaching ESL in South America and then seven years teaching middle school English it was time for a change. But Carlson wanted to stay in education — so he got certified to teach industrial arts classes.

With industrial arts classes students are given a lot of trust, but typically have an interest in the class when they sign up, he said, “especially my upper level welding class, it’s something they want to do, career wise, after high school.”

And, since the class is unstructured, students can be creative and have some control over their own learning. They can take their interest in industrial arts as far as they want to and Carlson tries to push each to a certain point — hopefully they go further than that, he said. 

Carlson’s classes at the basic level are undergoing some guided projects, he said, while upper level students are working on some more independent projects using advanced techniques. For his advanced woods class Carlson hopes that after Christmas break students can start on something like a shed, which would teach fine woodworking and construction techniques. After it’s built his hope is the shed could be sold, with the proceeds being put back into the program. With rising material costs the budget can be tight at times, although individuals and businesses like Bloedorn, Production Machine and Powell Welding have made donations or offered deals. The funds could also be used for the repair or replacement of tools. 

The upper level welding classes are learning different welding positions, processes and how to read welding project sheets (kind of like a blueprint.) As for projects, some students are working on their own ideas — a handful are working on improving their derby cars by fabricating roll cages. 

“Part of this thing with CTE is that we’re trying to develop employability skills as well as the technical aspects of woodworking or welding. So just giving them an arena to practice [in] before they go out with the real world,” Carlson said. “It’s awesome to see kids flourish in that sort of setting where they’re sort of taking on ownership of their own learning and really pushing themselves.”