Sixth grade students in Jordan Ushijima’s ’97 class are hooked on woodworking. In the Frear Wood Shop, students become familiar with hand tools and hand-held machines while applying design thinking principles to guide the creative process.
For one project, students design and create wooden fish hook necklaces (makau) to wear or gift to someone special as part of the Hawaiian tradition of celebrating fisherman (lawaia) for the important role they play in providing for the ‘ohana.
While it’s not the easiest of endeavors, woodworking is rewarding. “It’s challenging for students because most don’t have experience working with wood,” says Ushijima, a design technology and engineering faculty member. “But when their faces light up when they see the awesome work that they created – that’s what I like most about teaching woodcraft.”
Photos by Kathleen Connelly