About a dozen students, mostly freshmen, are in Shawn Rouleau’s Carpentry I class. They’ll take Carpentry II in the spring. Before students start their projects, he asks what skills they’re retaining.
“We had a cool opportunity a month and a half ago to visit with Special Wood, and they have that five-axis CNC [computer numerical control] controlled machine. And so, going to visit that site, does that inspire you to want to operate a machine like that? Because I think we're going to see more and more robotics and CNC-controlled machines in construction,” Rouleau said.
Student Elkanah Kirk responded to Mr. Rouleau’s question.
“I can definitely see CNC machines being a larger part of construction, since they can so finely cut things down to, like, the exact millimeter. However, it's still going to be harder to replace that handmade touch that a lot of people put into their craft. So it's definitely gonna work for mass production,” Kirk said. “However, if you're just a small-scale carpenter, just fixing up furniture for people, like a grandfather clock or something like that, then you're more likely to get better business because of that.”
One of Kirk’s classmates, Marcus Stevenson, is restoring a family grandfather clock in class.
“My grandfather worked with walnut, had his own walnut farm, so that's where it came from. And my dad built something with walnut too, so I guess it's my dad's side of the family kind of thing,” Stevenson said.
He explains what he’s about to work on while the rest of the students nail and saw away.
“I'm trying to sand some parts down, so I can get that together all the way. I don't want a gap, because if you can see that part, it has no gap, almost as if it turned into one piece of wood,” he said.
While other students build deer blinds and shelves, SEA-TECH Spark Lab educator Sara Toothman said the school's entire building dedicated to construction work makes it unique.
“I just think the story of this space is being realized, and thinking about how these students can return their skills to their families and then further to their community, is what's important,” Toothman said.
Rouleau added that his students can go in many different directions based on what they learn in his class.
“I see this program as a springboard to students entering the trades, to students going to college, becoming construction managers, or going into film. I have some students that came to learn how to build sets in here,” Rouleau said.
Christina Kulla is Cape Fear Community College’s SEA-TECH liaison; she counsels students through their high school classes and the college courses they mainly take in their junior and senior years.
“When you're talking to a 15-year-old, what their impression of an industry is can often be very different from what it actually is. So we front-load some of those introductory classes first, so that they can kind of experience the reality of an industry,” she said.
And it’s about exploring what’s possible for students who matriculate into SEA-TECH, according to Kulla, “For the application process that they go through at the other specialty schools, they have to have at least an 85 or a 95 in order to gain acceptance. Our cut score is a 75. We have students here who are coming in who want an opportunity, who want someone to take a chance on them, and they're willing to do that here.”
Toothman added that SEA-TECH students are not risk-averse when pursuing their education.
“There's constant conflict and constant testing the waters, testing boundaries, but always at the forefront of our minds and our decision-making is what is best for the future of our students,” Toothman said.
Rouleau said to his class while teaching, “Something that’s important to me is that you're comfortable making mistakes here, and learning from those mistakes.”
SEA-TECH principal Dr. Edith Skipper also called on the community to get involved. They are continuously looking for organizations and businesses to come into the school and, for the carpentry students, construction firms to collaborate with.
“It could be that you're hosting an intern as a business partner. It could be that you're coming in and exposing children to another job under an umbrella they may know something about but have never heard of. It could be coming in as a guest speaker. Could be coming and helping the construction teacher oversee a new project,” Skipper said.
They’ve already had firms like Special Wood and the Wilmington Cape Fear Home Builders Association help support the students. Kulla added that CFCC will bring a trailer outfitted as a machining classroom. They’re also offering a 3D printing certificate.
Rouleau added he’d like his students to be able to access Procore, a construction management application, one day.
Skipper said the school that she helped to start focuses on creation.
“It's real work. I don't want children to check boxes and play school. I don't like checking boxes and playing work. I want it to be real and meaningful for everyone,” she said.
SEA-TECH has a 100% graduation rate — and for the past three years has been designated as an ‘A’ school and has ‘exceeded expectations’ for student growth on end-of-year tests.
While these metrics show the school’s high academic performance, it still faces challenges. Skipper said she’s had access to more staff in the past.
“I've had a math teacher and an English teacher be able to go and be on the [CFCC] campuses. The math teacher was going mostly for tutoring, and the English teacher was going just as a touchpoint, so that children would know that we are there supporting them,” she said. “As budgets tighten, I don't have the personnel to send over there anymore, as regularly as I've done before, and so it's very difficult to do this kind of work as the budgets continue to decrease. It takes people.”
According to district records, SEA-TECH lost one CTE position compared to last year and lost some tutoring coverage; however, they gained partial time with a teaching assistant.
