I was thrilled to be among a group of woodturners who collaborated with faculty and staff at Mt. Pleasant High School, Wilmington, Delaware to teach woodturning to students over a three week period in April. Nine members of First State Woodturners, our local AAW Chapter, volunteered their time, tools, wood, and lathes to teach six classes of students how to turn a bowl from start to finish.

The classes proved so popular with students that many of them went on to turn a second bowl, box, or goblet while we were there. Some students even made their way back to the shop during free time, study halls, and lunch breaks to work on their projects.

In all, over 80 bowls were turned by the students!

Many thanks to Mt. Pleasant STEM teacher Heather Handler and parent/volunteer John Kain for working with us to make this happen. And thanks to fellow First State Woodturners members Tom Sloan, Eric Krum, Steve Childers, Mike Adams, Jack Donovan, Don Pivonka, Margaret DeMarco, and Dave Beehler for volunteering their time to instruct and coach the students.

Tom Sloan goes over the basics with a group of students