Montera Middle School Woodshop
Donation protected
Hello!
My name is Eric Runge and I am the woodshop teacher at Montera Middle School. We are the last middle school in the Oakland Unified School District to have a woodshop. I strongly believe that giving the kids an introduction to working with their hands and providing an opportunity to excel in a class where the stress is not strictly academic can be life changing to some kids— opening up creative avenues for expression, building confidence as they excel in a different area, and introducing them to something that might turn into a successful career or a lifelong hobby.
But the woodshop isn't equiped the way it should be... we can't offer everything we should and we can't be as safe as we could. I need your help.
A little (personal) history...
I attended Montera for 7th, 8th and 9th grades and took woodshop in the very same room in which I am now teaching.
This woodshop is like being home for me. After I graduated from college in Oregon and then returned home, I would work in the woodshop with my former teacher, Keith Rice, during school hours. During class, all of the specialty tools were locked in the tool room. Whenever I needed one of those tools I would go to Keith, grab his red pencil and start grading the students' projects while he got me the tool I needed. The students had no idea who I was and would balk at letting me touch their projects. They would complain to Keith, telling him that I couldn't touch their projects and with a smile he would always reply "Oh yes he can, and by the way, do you know who his mom is?" (My mother taught at Montera for 20 years and was a much feared though respected teacher.) This always added some mystery to the class and I would see the kids talking to each other trying to figure that out.
About 9 years ago Keith died. He was famous in his own right, having taught so many of us in the woodshop. He had created a tradition of projects that everyone had to make before they could move on to a project of their own choosing. To this day, if you talk to one of his former students, they will all mention the spoon, bowl, game board, and especially the redwood burl clock that they made in his class. What I realized years later as I was working on the woodwork in a client's Rolls Royce was that each of those projects taught me something specific, how to use all of the basic hand tools in the woodshop. It turns out that as I was working on that Rolls Royce I needed to make a part that I couldn't make with a power tool as I was used to. I needed those skills that I learned in 7th grade. That was a moment of joy for me. I finally understood what I had learned and gained an even bigger respect for my teacher Mr. Rice.
Since he died, there have been a few teachers in the woodshop, including me for the first semester after he was gone. I carried on his tradition but with each new teacher the program changed and it seems moved away from the basics of woodworking.
The woodshop today
I stepped back in to teach woodshop this September. I intend to bring the woodshop back to the tradition that was built so long ago. Some of the projects that we made in his class will continue to be required projects and, as I adjust to the new students, I will add or subtract what works and what doesn't.
Unfortunately, as each new teacher has come and gone and the school district has closed all of the woodshops except for Montera's, maintenance of the shop has become an issue. The major tools (planer, jointer, table saw, band saw, and lathes) were built and delivered to the school in 1959. They were beautiful, probably the best that money could buy 58 years ago. Now, they are gone or not working properly.
The three most important tools in the woodshop are the table saw, jointer, and planer. The table saw is a beautiful 14" Oliver. I learned how to use this saw in the '80s and was one of the few students allowed to use it by my self during class. For the most part it is still in good working condition. However, technology and tool design have changed for the better over the years. What safety features this saw had are gone. It no longer has a blade guard and the rip fence is too short and not very adjustible. As a teacher I need to be safe as do my students and safety can't wait. I would never allow one of my students to use this saw and prefer to use it myself when I am alone in the shop so that way there are no distractions.
What is needed
The immediate need for the shop is a saw with the SawStop safety feature that also has a longer rip fence, a bigger table, and an outfeed table so that I can work alone to get the students' wood to a point that they can use it.
This saw, as you can see in the video, senses moisture (blood) and comes to a stop within 3 miliseconds. It has a riving knife that followes the back of the blade to prevent kickbacks, has a long rip fence with an accurate and adjustible measuring system for a better, more controlled and repeatable cut, has a blade guard that is easy to use, and also has great dust collection so we can keep the shop air cleaner. All of these safety features would be requirements for teaching the advance wood shop students to use the tool as well.
This is where we need to start the woodshop improvement. If there is any leftover money raised, we need a new 8" jointer, 25" planer, 14" bandsaw, and lots and lots of hand tools.
Please help me to provide my students with a safe working space with the ability to put on a robust program where students are able to make purposeful, meaningful, and challenging projects. This class is one of the few classes that teach students skills that will help them to get a career without going to college. We need more of that, not less.
Minimally, the tools will make 100+ kids each semester in Oakland, California really happy. But more than that, with your help we can provide for them a different kind of education... skills in using their hands that can last a lifetime.
My name is Eric Runge and I am the woodshop teacher at Montera Middle School. We are the last middle school in the Oakland Unified School District to have a woodshop. I strongly believe that giving the kids an introduction to working with their hands and providing an opportunity to excel in a class where the stress is not strictly academic can be life changing to some kids— opening up creative avenues for expression, building confidence as they excel in a different area, and introducing them to something that might turn into a successful career or a lifelong hobby.
But the woodshop isn't equiped the way it should be... we can't offer everything we should and we can't be as safe as we could. I need your help.
A little (personal) history...
I attended Montera for 7th, 8th and 9th grades and took woodshop in the very same room in which I am now teaching.
This woodshop is like being home for me. After I graduated from college in Oregon and then returned home, I would work in the woodshop with my former teacher, Keith Rice, during school hours. During class, all of the specialty tools were locked in the tool room. Whenever I needed one of those tools I would go to Keith, grab his red pencil and start grading the students' projects while he got me the tool I needed. The students had no idea who I was and would balk at letting me touch their projects. They would complain to Keith, telling him that I couldn't touch their projects and with a smile he would always reply "Oh yes he can, and by the way, do you know who his mom is?" (My mother taught at Montera for 20 years and was a much feared though respected teacher.) This always added some mystery to the class and I would see the kids talking to each other trying to figure that out.
About 9 years ago Keith died. He was famous in his own right, having taught so many of us in the woodshop. He had created a tradition of projects that everyone had to make before they could move on to a project of their own choosing. To this day, if you talk to one of his former students, they will all mention the spoon, bowl, game board, and especially the redwood burl clock that they made in his class. What I realized years later as I was working on the woodwork in a client's Rolls Royce was that each of those projects taught me something specific, how to use all of the basic hand tools in the woodshop. It turns out that as I was working on that Rolls Royce I needed to make a part that I couldn't make with a power tool as I was used to. I needed those skills that I learned in 7th grade. That was a moment of joy for me. I finally understood what I had learned and gained an even bigger respect for my teacher Mr. Rice.
Since he died, there have been a few teachers in the woodshop, including me for the first semester after he was gone. I carried on his tradition but with each new teacher the program changed and it seems moved away from the basics of woodworking.
The woodshop today
I stepped back in to teach woodshop this September. I intend to bring the woodshop back to the tradition that was built so long ago. Some of the projects that we made in his class will continue to be required projects and, as I adjust to the new students, I will add or subtract what works and what doesn't.
Unfortunately, as each new teacher has come and gone and the school district has closed all of the woodshops except for Montera's, maintenance of the shop has become an issue. The major tools (planer, jointer, table saw, band saw, and lathes) were built and delivered to the school in 1959. They were beautiful, probably the best that money could buy 58 years ago. Now, they are gone or not working properly.
The three most important tools in the woodshop are the table saw, jointer, and planer. The table saw is a beautiful 14" Oliver. I learned how to use this saw in the '80s and was one of the few students allowed to use it by my self during class. For the most part it is still in good working condition. However, technology and tool design have changed for the better over the years. What safety features this saw had are gone. It no longer has a blade guard and the rip fence is too short and not very adjustible. As a teacher I need to be safe as do my students and safety can't wait. I would never allow one of my students to use this saw and prefer to use it myself when I am alone in the shop so that way there are no distractions.
What is needed
The immediate need for the shop is a saw with the SawStop safety feature that also has a longer rip fence, a bigger table, and an outfeed table so that I can work alone to get the students' wood to a point that they can use it.
This saw, as you can see in the video, senses moisture (blood) and comes to a stop within 3 miliseconds. It has a riving knife that followes the back of the blade to prevent kickbacks, has a long rip fence with an accurate and adjustible measuring system for a better, more controlled and repeatable cut, has a blade guard that is easy to use, and also has great dust collection so we can keep the shop air cleaner. All of these safety features would be requirements for teaching the advance wood shop students to use the tool as well.
This is where we need to start the woodshop improvement. If there is any leftover money raised, we need a new 8" jointer, 25" planer, 14" bandsaw, and lots and lots of hand tools.
Please help me to provide my students with a safe working space with the ability to put on a robust program where students are able to make purposeful, meaningful, and challenging projects. This class is one of the few classes that teach students skills that will help them to get a career without going to college. We need more of that, not less.
Minimally, the tools will make 100+ kids each semester in Oakland, California really happy. But more than that, with your help we can provide for them a different kind of education... skills in using their hands that can last a lifetime.
Organizer
Eric Runge
Organizer
Oakland, CA
