By Sterling McGinn
The April 21 meeting of the Tahquamenon Area Schools Board of Education began with a tour of the new Career and Technical Education (CTE) room, which was put into commission just months ago.
Members of the board and community toured the room firsthand with celebrated teacher Linus Parr, who instructs CTE and Geometry in Construction (GIC) students and is also the school art teacher.
The new room is situated in the former high school science wing, located directly behind the high school gym locker rooms. The old chemistry and biology rooms were combined to create the new workspace, and a garage door was installed so materials can come in or out via Phelps Street.
Construction of the room was part of the school bond project. The old shop room in the wing of the old high school will no longer be used.
“We did not get occupancy into this room until the first week of February,” Parr said.
Much of equipment and furnishing were built and designed by his students.
“Everything that you see on the walls, my construction trades and GIC wood shop students have built. They made the broom racks and the tool boards, and they just finished the custom hood over the lathe,” he said.
The students also built storage units, shelving, supply racks, and an area to store projects the students are currently working on. Parr showed the custom chop saw table built by his students.
“It is lined perfectly to shoot the sawdust straight into the vent,” Parr said. “Students figured out how to tighten up the angles and increase the draw of the vacuum, so we have minimal dust down at the bottom.”
District Superintendent Stacy Price explained that while bond money paid for the room construction, the CTE millage from six years ago paid for the new shop machinery.
“That is very much what that money is used for, to replace tools, to replace equipment,” Price said.
Parr also showcased a current project of homemade compost mixers. The students are making them out of re-purposed blue plastic barrels.
“They should make us some decent money for CTE,” Parr said. He expects four compost mixers to be available in the next two weeks.
Parr is hoping to secure residents who would be interested in coming in as a guest to teach a class. Newberry resident and woodworker Jim Dzelak has been invited as a guest instructor.
“He is putting something together and he is extremely talented,” Parr said.
One of Parr’s other goals is to eventually host adult classes in of the room. “It would be one more thing for the Newberry community,” Parr said.
“It is a fun space,” he said. “I couldn’t have done this by myself without the kids.”
In other news, a discussion took place about a proposed auction that had been planned to take place in the old high school building. The structure, which was opened in 1927, is no longer in service and contains a number of items that will eventually need to be removed.
Price had signed a contract with Salters’ Mercantile, a Newberry-based auction and estate sale business, to sell items, including the Abraham Lincoln statue from the auditorium, old desks, chairs, doors, and other items.
The auction listing indicated that all items would need to be removed, including doors and light fixtures, and that those in attendance would need to bring tools and ladders to remove purchased items. Board trustee Veronica Edwards expressed concern that people coming into the building to remove light fixtures with the power still connected would put the public at risk.
The power and heat to the high school has not yet been disconnected, as it was discovered that the main heating control panel was located in the basement of the high school building. Price said that the district will see significant savings in utility costs when the control panels can be moved to the newer portion of the facility. It is not known when that work can be performed.
The auction has been called off, thought it was also discussed that the auction could be rescheduled at a later date, possibly when the power is shut off.
