Robert Ickler, Agriscience instructor and workplace experience coordinator, is planning a second semester class for seventh graders at Triton Middle School this year. He is introducing some real-life work experiences to interest students in some avenues they may not have explored normally.
One of these includes working with concrete. He has been looking for ways to incorporate concrete into a class for a number of years. The semester long class allows the time for this subject. One of the projects will be making cement landscape pavers. The plan is to use wood or metal frames to mold the pavers on sheets of plastic on the shop floor. The pavers will be 12” x 12”. The students will mix the Quickcrete and pour into the forms, then work and finish the concrete. Before the cement cures, they plan to press small objects into the top surface to individualize each paver as well as adding their name and the year.
The pavers will be placed along the outside classroom wall flush with the lawn in the spring. This will eliminate some of the trimmer along that wall for the groundskeepers, as the mower can pass right over them.
Bob also has plans to give the students hands on experience laying concrete blocks. They will lay up a small wall with a corner, to get a taste of working with blocks and mortar. A masonry professional will assist with the technique and method for properly constructing such a project. They are still making decisions on what the completed construction will be used for.
Another part of the class curriculum will be to make squeaky dog toys. They will experiment with a variety of fabrics and learn to sew and assemble the pet toy. There is no longer a sewing class taught at Triton and he believes this is a life skill everyone should learn. He plans to ask Sandy Huber to help with teaching the sewing duties. The students can take the completed project home for their own pets or donate to a local dog shelter.
If anyone wishes to donate scraps of fabric for the dog and cat toys or small medallions or knick-knacks for the pavers they may drop the items off at the high school or middle school office by the end of January.
