Sherwood Gazette - Bonamici tour reveals how SHS students are preparing for high-tech future

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Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (Oregon-1st District) went back to school Oct. 3, touring several Sherwood High technical labs accompanied by Superintendent Heather Cordie and Principal Ken Bell.

As part of National Manufacturing Day, Bonamici spent an hour chatting with students and instructors about preparing in-demand workers for the real world.

"This school is known for its technical education," said Bonamici, who serves on the House's Committee on Education and the Workforce plus the Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

In the computer science department, Bonamici observed a robot (loaded with three T-shirt cannons) moving around the room while being controlled remotely.

"The robot is a bridge between engineering and robotics," student Alan Danz told Bonamici. "We've been working on it off and on for two years. Several of us pushed for this design and got it assembled on a Saturday in about four hours, but it's the brainchild of the entire robotics club."

On another high-tech front, junior Kellen Croston explained to Bonamici how he and several other students spent six months developing apps so SHS students can get the daily schedule on their smart phones.

"The schedules used to be printed every day, and that was a huge waste of paper," Croston said. "We didn't know about apps to start with, but we learned a lot."

Engineering teacher John Niebergall told Bonamici that his students also developed an app for the school newspaper, the Arrow, to increase ways to make news more digital.

The tour included watching a video about a partnership between SHS and Sitka High School in Sitka, Alaska, whereby students create designs and transmit them to the other school for assembly, a system that is happening right now in the manufacturing world.

"That has been very cool to see," said Niebergall, adding, "If a school has a 3D printer or a laser or both, they can make parts."

Matthew Brooks, an Arrow staff member, interviewed Bonamici before she entered the welding lab, where students were working on arc welding and gas welding.

"We have an all-girls welding class made up of freshmen and sophomores," instructor Allison Meadows said. "Other classes have two or three girls, and we always have four or five who continue on. Girls especially pay attention to detail and are meticulous. These classes are good for students who need hands-on learning, and students also learn the safety aspects of working in a shop…

"They get college credit for this. Some of them go to Portland Community College, and they already know some of the stuff. Classes like this are a great way to keep students engaged in school. Some might not come to school otherwise. The welding lab is a hidden gem at SHS."

Bonamici responded, "It's wonderful that they have a female teacher. This is a great experience for students."

In the engineering lab, teacher Clark Farrand explained how students do computer-aided drafting and proudly pointed out the school's $30,000, industrial-grade 3D printer made possible by the Sherwood Education Foundation.

"Most schools have small, desk-top models," Niebergall said.

Farrand gave Bonamici and Ryan Mann, her outreach director, each a cat toy and a working wrench created with the 3D printer out of irrigation pipe.

In the woodshop, senior Austin Tietsort, who has a three-year internship at Boeing, told Bonamici how well prepared SHS has made him for the demands of his internship; and Bonamici asked him as well as other students she encountered about their future plans.

Woodshop teacher Jon Dickover showed Bonamici a scale model of a house, complete with furniture and lights, designed in the SHS architecture class. A total of 300 SHS students worked with professional contractors to build the first Bowmen house that was completed and sold in 2013; students are now in the second year of working on a second house on land purchased by the school district seven years ago.

Dickover led Bonamici and Mann on a tour of the house, under construction near the school, which Bonamici called "very impressive." In addition to the woodshop students, the SHS interior design and environmental science classes are involved in the project. "The only things we don't do are lay the carpet and paint," Dickover said.

He invited Bonamici to an open house for the completed home set for May 30, and she asked Mann to put it on her schedule.

"Serving on the two House committees, one of the things we hear from business people is that kids are only learning the soft skills, such as showing up on time and teamwork," Bonamici said. "Here they are learning hard skills they can use in the workplace. Think of the kids who apply to college a

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