The winter Woodshop sale was held in the back of the Tech 1 room, where cutting boards, vases, holiday decorations, bookstands, pens, clocks, and a baseball bat were housed on a large table. Some of the items were left over from last year’s sale or had been abandoned at the end of the year, but most of it had been made by students in the last couple of months, specifically for the sale.
Senior Nathaniel Miller made two cheese boards out of alder, Peruvian walnut, and mahogany in about four days, and another senior, Bonny Pennell, made a cutting board and refurbished an iPad bookstand in two and a half weeks.
Every year Woodshop holds the sale to raise funds for their sister school in Kenya, the Nasawa Technical Institute. The institute was founded six or seven years ago to help people learn a trade skill.
Woodshop supports the carpentry and woodworking portion of the institute. In past years it has sent books and funds for materials, but now the class is sending donations which the institute will use to fund scholarships.
Last year, the winter Woodshop sale raised a record $1,200 from sale profits and donations. Mr. Dupont, the Wood Tech instructor, is very pleased with the $800 they have raised for the institute this year, even though it is a little lower than previous years. “It’s been a great year; we’re very pleased to do this. It’s great for the students. They love doing it because there are people in Kenya who are much less privileged than we are here,” he said.
Students who made items for the sale were aware of the importance of their charitable donations to the Nasawa Technical Institute. Miller and Pennell made their projects specifically for the sale.
Pennell described the sale as a way in which to do good for others. “Mr. Dupont is trying to teach us all that charity work is really wonderful and that we should do good for others,” she explained.
The beauty of the items for sale, especially the glittering gold and silver snowflake ornaments, and the dedication of the students to helping their sister school are impressive.
