The first day I stepped into this school, the environment was so much different from my regular high school. Similar to how we have art pieces all over the school of things that were designed by students, Co-op has as well. The only difference is there are different trades in that school and so the art pieces are completely different.
I applied for carpentry because it goes hand and hand with my career goal of being an architect. When I walked into the class, the sounds of drills, hammers, and all types of other noises greeted me. This surprised me because I did not think that people would be getting straight to work. My teacher, Mr. Fernandez, is honestly one of the most down to earth people I have ever met. He teaches the class more than just about carpentry. Life skills, applying for jobs, applying for colleges, and any other questions you may have, he is there to answer. As the days went on, I learned more and more about the art of carpentry as well as the tips and tricks to help make things easier. I learned how to use tools and developed favorites. Three of my WHSAD classmates also attended this class, and we worked together in a group together, working to create a mini 8×8 house. We started with the base first and then worked on the walls and slowly put it together. Check out a video tour of our house here:
Before starting this project, I thought that it would be way harder than what it originally was. Once we did start though, I felt like I was only in that class for 30 minutes when in reality I’m there for 150 minutes. The miniature house that we were building slowly started coming together after about a month and some change. Most recently, we have been adding little accessories into the house such as a bench, table, and even some shelfs. It is now February 2022, and we have new students added to the classroom, and I have been told that we are going to start applying sheetrock into our houses which excites me because it’s something new and something useful in the real world. That being said, I am glad that I applied for Co-op Tech because it gave me a view as to what the real world is like and gave me an introduction to one of my favorite trades.