The following Guest Column, written by Tom Emerick, is reprinted from The Saugerties Times, 02-07-08 Students Need Hands-on Technology Classes By: Tom Emerick, Saugerties Times , February 7, 2008   Over the last several months there has been a growing discussion regarding the future of the technology program at the Junior and Senior High Schools in Saugerties. This is the drafting/designing/wood shop/metal shop type of technology, not the computer graphics and Microsoft Office technology. As part of the school district’s building plan, the taxpayers were promised a number of improvements in the infrastructure of the school district as well as in the facilities and the programs offered –– including those offered by the technology department. This department serves both the JHS and the SHS and includes three classrooms and three instructors that teach a total of 17 sessions; 15 for the JHS and two for the SHS. This space also serves three classes of special education students. Essentially our Senior High currently has only one-third of a technology teacher. For most of the last two years, the technology department has been putting together a plan to update their program as part of the building project. During this time they have not been able to come to an agreement with the district administration, which has a different vision for both the space and the curriculum. The technology department’s plan is based upon rearranging the existing space without any major construction (wiring or plumbing), adding an integrated clean design area and adding a CAD (computer aided design) lab. This is a complete plan that includes a new layout, equipment purchases, curriculum plans and a vision for expansion into the future. The goals are to meet the district’s current needs more efficiently, add exploratory courses for potential BOCES students, and offer additional advanced technology and engineering prep courses, life skills courses, and a technology option to foreign language for students seeking a Regents diploma. Most importantly, this plan would permit the expansion of the department to accommodate new technology and courses while maintaining sufficient hands-on work areas to meet the state requirements for JHS technology education (75 percent hands-on). This plan would decrease the size of the individual hands-on work areas by 25 percent while adding a clean room area with access to two of the shops. This clean room would be used for interactive design work and as an additional teaching space. The plan also includes the addition of an 800 square foot CAD space with 24 workstations. With this plan as many as 24 hands-on sessions, eight CAD sessions, and eight sessions of clean space would be supported utilizing the same square footage currently allocated to technology education. The district administration’s plan would reduce the current hands-on space by half –– to two classrooms –– while adding approximately 2600 square feet of CAD and clean work rooms separate from the hands-on area. To accommodate even the existing classes this would require that the hands-on area be shared for 16 periods (two rooms x eight periods) among as many as 19 technology and special education classes while accommodating shop time for the instructors to do material and classroom preparation (on average three periods a day for the three teachers). The administration has said this is possible by the use of “creative scheduling” but has presented no details on how this would be done. Even if it were possible, this leaves no room for the future expansion of hands-on technology and will negatively impact the ability of the students to work in the shop space. The administration’s vision of technology education is centered around CAD and computer simulations. While these programs certainly have their place and are a part of the technology department’s plan they do not provide the intuitive understanding of how things work, meet the state’s hands-on requirements or satisfy the needs of our special education students. The administration’s basis for taking away the existing technology space was stated to be the need to create a 2500 square foot state-of-the-art weight and phys-ed room of with outside access. The current space is approximately 1800 square feet and is essentially unused due to a lack of equipment and ventilation. While there has been debate over the need for this increase in space, (compared to other Section IX schools this is more than 20 percent larger than average), it would be possible to accommodate both the desire for a larger weight room while maintaining the technology space. The technology chairman recently proposed a plan to reallocate space by the kitchen for the weight room which would provide nearly 2400 square feet for the facility and outside access. While this would require some engineering, the cost could be offset by the savings in relocating and reallocating the technology space. There are many aspects of the building project that are in peril due to cost, but this is an area where we could save money while increasing the educational benefit to our students. Currently the SHS offers a single, one semester course which potential BOCES students can take for the exploration of their options. The superintendent’s plan will ensure there will never be more. Currently the school offers 15 sessions of primarily hands-on education for the JHS, the superintendent’s plan will significantly reduce this. Currently the school offers one course of college preparatory technology education involving hands-on design and construction. With the superintendent’s plan, there will never be more. Last week I visited the Yale University chemistry department. During my brief time there I encountered many chemistry labs. Among them were three labs which included a machine shop and welding lab, a glassware lab, and a laser fixture lab. The students were milling, welding, blowing glass, using a lathe, etc. Why are they teaching these types of classes to students in one of the world’s preeminent universities? Because having this knowledge is essential to the design and development process. As our district moves into the future we need to put the education of all of our students above other needs. I feel that we can do this and meet the extra-curricular needs of the students if we demand accountability and a first rate effort from our district administration. We are a community of limited resources and we also need to make sure understand how and where our money is being spent so it can be best utilized. The technology department, working with many community members, the New York State Education department, and input from other school districts, has compiled a complete plan for the maintenance and expansion of the technology program including facilities, equipment, and curriculum. I hope that the students that will benefit from this program for decades to come will have the support of the citizens of Saugerties. Before I conclude, a few words about why I’ve taken an active interest in this issue. I am an electrical engineer specializing in embedded systems design involving both hardware and software development. I have one child currently in the Saugerties school district and one who has graduated. My younger son has taken all of the available technology classes as he prepares to apply for college. My wife and I strongly believe in the value of a good education for both life and career preparation. I feel that a quality hands-on education provides an understanding of technology that is essential to creating and using more abstract representations such as computer simulations. In addition, the technology department's proposal would provide exploratory options to the student's targeting BOCES that they are currently denied. I know the benefit that a quality technology program can bestow on a student’s education and that the enthusiasm and interest that it will generate will last a lifetime. The engineers and technicians I work with all value the education we received in the shop classes (metal, wood, electronics) in high school. At the last school board meeting when the technology department chair, Mr. Lombardo, was describing his vision for the program, school board member Terry Parisian asked him “Isn't all of that stuff made in China now?” If our district gets its way, it will be.