Haverhill

Haverhill middle-schoolers try their hands at carpentry

Middle-schoolers try their hands at carpentry

By Paul Tennant
ptennant@eagletribune.com
Published: January 5, 2009

What the students gain

A sense of whether vocational high school is right for them.

An understanding of how math and reading is important in carpentry and similar vocations.

The satisfaction of making things with their hands — stools and storage boxes so far.

HAVERHILL — In carpentry, it all starts with learning how to use your ruler.

"Who can mark off three and a quarter inches?" Peter Joslin asked his young charges at Whittier Middle School during a recent class.

Joslin, a retired carpentry instructor who has taught at both Greater Lawrence and Whittier regional vocational technical high schools, has been leading a pre-vocational program at the middle school for the several weeks. He also has many years of building experience.

It gives the kids a sense of whether a vocational high school is right for them, and show them what kind of training they would receive there.

"This is a pilot program for kids who like to work with their hands," said Whittier Middle School Principal Beth Kitsos.

The six students, under Joslin's direction, were scribing out on wood where to make the cuts for some stools they are making. Each of the kids has already built a small wooden box, with glass panels, where they can store items.

During this session, Joslin also showed the kids how to find the exact center of a rectangular board: Draw two diagonal lines, each joining the opposite corners, and the center is where the two lines intersect. You can't miss.

Kitsos noted that the skills required for cutting out the pieces of wood to make stools involve both math and reading. Some of the students will probably apply to attend Whittier Regional High, she said.

One student who is definitely considering Whittier Regional is Hayden Oliver, a seventh-grader.

"I like doing stuff with my hands," he said.

While he has enjoyed building the keepsake box as well as the stools, Hayden might be more of a mechanic than a carpenter.

"I like to put bikes together," he said.

Hayden doesn't assemble bicycles from handy little kits. He'll take parts from different bikes and make a machine that he can ride.

He has yet to fall off any of his creations, he said, so he must be doing something right.

Devin Coolbeth, also a seventh-grader, said he's going to look into Whittier Regional too.

"It's fun. You get to hang out with friends," he said of the pre-vocational program.

Tharrin Abbott, an eighth-grader, said "it's fun" to work with his hands. He was pleased with the keepsake box he made under Joslin's instruction.

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