The Wood Design Applications (WDA) class has been assigned the great task of building a woodworking project for teachers at Linganore, a handcrafted holiday gift from the WDA program.

On November 3, the WDA teacher, Dane Grossnickle, sent out a google form introducing the woodworking project. This assignment is a part of the class’s project-based learning unit for students in the level 2 and 3 classes and consists of three steps.

The first step was for teachers to email Grossnickle with projects they would like created by Woodworking students. Grossnickle reported receiving an overwhelming number of commissions from Linganore staff.

After the student pairs choose what project they want to complete, they go back-and-forth with the teachers presenting three different revisions or the design. As part of the process, they create the project digitally, sending pictures, dimensions and additional edits. The teacher then signs off on the final design and is told the cost of their commission. Final approval allows the students to start building. 

“This project is [intended] to provide students with a real-world experience,” said Grossnickle. “[Students have] an opportunity to get to work with some financing and a hard deadline to prepare them for that college and career-ready pathway.”

The WDA class is a comprehensive course in which students use their craftsmanship for a variety of projects. This class allows students to have many learning experiences with woodworking, architecture and computer-aided drawing to obtain skills for college and future careers.

Level 1 students focus mainly on machine safety and also having a unit on computer drawing and crafting. The Levels 2-4 are similar to level 1 but more complex.

Evaluated by both the student and teacher, the grading process of the commissions project will have the client evaluating the final product and assessing the students’ professionalism and communication skills. 

A student in WDA, Mason Deal was excited to work on this project.

“We accepted a commission for Ms. Abuelhawa, and it [was] cornhole boards that she wants for her father,” Deal said. It was “a brand new experience” and “something I was looking forward to.”