Teaching students life skills at Worland High School

WORLAND – Two Worland High School classes give students hands-on opportunity to learn life skills and pursue possible career choices.

Ed Wise teaches a 50-minute class called building trade.

The course, funded by a federal grant, is a one-year program where students take a math and building class to learn the specifics to building.

It goes beyond the initial process of building, and the students enrolled had to meet with City Building Inspector Nick Kruger to make sure all items being built are city code approved.

Currently, 11 boys are enrolled in the course and have spent the semester building code-approved storage sheds, a chicken coop, and a dog house. The excess wood is used for smaller projects like a storage chest and plant holders so no material is wasted, Wise said.

The sheds students made are for sale for $2,500 and $3,200, Wise said, and the two plant holders and storage chest are up for sale for $25 each.

Wise said they sell the items the students make to buy new supplies so they break even with the cost of wood and other supplies and the dog house was donated to the Fur Ball auction to raise money for the New Hope Humane Society animal shelter in Worland, he added.

While the program has only been up and running for three years Wise said enrollment for the class has been steadily going up each year.

Wise said, "The goal of the program is to get them up to the point so they can get jobs with local carpenters and have actual skills."

-The second course at Worland High School that gives students hands-on opportunity is fashion and fabrics.

Teacher Brenda Trippel said the multifaceted course, funded by a one-year Wyoming Department of Education mini grant, has already taught students merchandising, product development, fashion designing and garment construction.

While the long-term status of the program is unclear, Trippel has used grant money to buy new fashion design software, materials and a sergers and stitch machine for students. As part of grant requirements, the course needed partners and Worland High School fashion and fabrics course is partnered with the University of Wyoming Family Consumer Sciences Department and Shopko.

"The students in the fashion and fabrics class have been working on learning more about the fashion industry. Earlier, this semester, they researched trends in spring fashions. Then, they used the new CAD (Computer Assisted Design) fashion software to design a "clothing line" using information gathered from their research," Trippel said.

Trippel said she believes the class is important because students spend so much time and money on shopping and fashion and this class gives them an opportunity to see and explore the different types of careers in the fashion industry.

"The fashions and fabrics class has been working with Shopko manager, Jason Abercrombie, to learn more about fashion from the retail point of view. The students' work was submitted to Abercrombie who then sent it on to Shopko's Apparel Team. The apparel team reviewed each student's designs and sent comments about the fashions that each student created," Trippel said.

Abercrombie then came back and shared the Shopko Apparel Team's feedback with the students.

As the year comes to end, Trippel said students are currently taking one of their designs and making it into a garment that they can wear.