Building a Path to the Future: Career & Technical Education Facilities Improvements

When you walk into the Ceramics classroom at Crescent Valley High School, you understand why this is one of the most popular offerings in the school’s course catalog. Art teacher Keith Moses is seated at a work table with four students attentively gathered around, jazz music fills the light-filled room with a creative and energetic beat, and students are busily working at a potter’s wheel, tending to a partially finished project in the new kiln room, or cleaning up their work area. Everyone is focused and on task. The expanded and renovated ceramics classroom and outdoor learning area is one of many Career and Technical Education (CTE) improvements that are part of the Corvallis School District’s 2018 Facilities Improvement Bond Program.

District-wide CTE improvements include a new classroom/lab at Cheldelin Middle School and major renovations of the existing CTE classrooms and outdoor work areas at Crescent Valley High School and Corvallis High School. While there are a wide variety of CTE offerings at each high school, programs supported by the bond improvements include Science and Engineering and Visual Arts. 

Work at Crescent Valley included a major renovation of Building F with expanded outdoor areas for Arts, Automotive, Metals, and Woodworking classes and a reconfigured computer lab, woodworking shop area, and metals area with individual welding stations. “The changes are amazing,” shares Mr. Moses. “I can have students working inside the classroom and at the same time can be supervising what’s happening outside in our new outdoor area. Our programs actually have room to store our supplies and materials and we were able to spread out our equipment and have multiple things happening at the same time. It’s such a great improvement for students.” 

While Ceramics and other Visual Arts classes typically attract a cross-section of students, the District is working to bring non-traditional students into other CTE programs like Woodworking, Metals, and Automotive. CSD Secondary Schools Coordinator, Nikki McFarland, was part of the District’s planning team for CTE facilities upgrades. She sees a direct relationship with enhancing school facilities, making more class sections available, and attracting more students. “We know CTE programs have a positive impact on high school graduation rates and we want more kids to access those pathways. One of our goals was to bring our high school CTE learning areas up to industry standards so students are learning and working in a classroom that feels like what they will experience in industry workspaces.” 

Cheldelin Middle School STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art Math) teacher KB Burwell echoes that sentiment. “We have been offering STEAM classes at both middle schools for about five years and we are seeing more girls going on into Woodworking classes in high school,” shared Ms. Burwell. “Standard classrooms have so many limitations and it was so great to be able to talk about what we wanted out of these renovated spaces early in the design phase. We envisioned the classroom as a lab. In labs you get things done and you solve problems. I want my middle school students to create things.”

The Cheldelin STEAM room is completely different than a typical classroom. It provides flexibility with the tables and chairs that can be reconfigured and features an open layout. With more space, the front half of the room is set up for instruction in a more traditional classroom format and the back half of the room is the work area. “My students are creating a ‘good mess’ in this room all the time. It’s so cool to watch them problem-solving and figuring things out.”

In a recent visit to Adam Kirsch’s Woodworking class at Crescent Valley High School, Junior Evelyn Vega was one of a handful of females in the traditionally male-dominated class. “I took IDEA as a freshman (Introduction to Design with Engineering and Art) and really liked it,” she shared while taking a break from using the wood lathe. “I generally like making things and in this class, I have the freedom to create whatever I want.  For me, working with wood is more interesting than other kinds of art classes. I’m hoping to take Woods again next year.”

Fellow juniors, Daniel Marshall and John Pawlowski—who have been friends since 5th grade— chose their classroom project based on a tiny house project they worked on last school year. Both students have dreams of going into construction or engineering.  “We were inspired by the tiny house project and asked Mr. Kirsch if we could make a tiny house this year as our winter/spring project,” shared Daniel. Once completed, it will find its way to a local organization that supports the homeless in our community. Daniel is enthusiastic about the renovations in the Woodworking and Metals classrooms at his school. “When I walked in last fall, my jaw dropped. Everything has a space, nothing is cramped. Now we have more room for equipment and can do so much more. This is a space to make dreams come true!”

John echoed Daniel’s enthusiasm for the improvements. “Everything is labeled, there used to be a giant bottleneck around some equipment, everything is more organized.” Other favorite improvements are the built-in vacuum system that makes it easier to clean up and the larger covered outdoor area that is tall enough to build that tiny house. Daniel and John are excited to complete the project this year and make someone’s dream come true.

For more information about bond projects and improvements across the Corvallis School District, please visit https://www.csd509j.net/bond-program/school-projects/