Local high school 'shop' class helps 'special needs' kids

Education

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Saugeen District Secondary School (SDSS) Woodworking Class with completed projects  (back left) STEPS Camp Board members - Andrea La Blance, Mike La Blance and John Conlin

When it comes to woodworking projects, the Saugeen District Secondary School  (SDSS) Shop class under teacher Bud Halpin, believes in 'win-win' undertakings.

The class recently completed a major furniture-making for a special cause ... the Special Therapy & Education Program of Saugeen (STEPS)

(L)Kim Cooper and Nicole Symonds put finishing sanding touches to unique chair design that aids special needs children

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Brittany Irwin & Laura Steele work on an extra project of their choosing

The organization has been established to provide conductive education for those with Cerebral Palsy and other motor disorders of neurological origin.

Conductive Education, developed in Hungary, was designed to help children with movement disorders caused by neurological origin.

In the system, children are 'conducted to fully engage in learning useful, age-appropriate actions to provide normalization for them.  In Europe, the method of physical development is becoming more popular in North America.

As with any system however, specialized equipment/furniture is need and that is where the SDSS woodworking class came in to the equation.

According to Bud Halpin, SDSS Shop Teacher, the class embraced the project.  "This was an exceptional group," says Halpin.  "They were totally charitable with their time and commitment.  When you give young people a chance to do something meaningful they step up.  These are kids who want to make a difference and, by taking the care to make these items, they have done that ... made a difference."

For the first time, the 2010 class of woodworking at SDSS had more girls enrolled than boys, with 11 to 10 respectively.

Reanne McArthur operates the saw

Halpin says that, when it comes to woodworking, "Girls are actually more meticulous when it comes to finishing.  This class was set up the way an actual factory would be so that the pieces were done in stages and components were completed and then assembled by groups  They did a fantastic job".

Taylor Kidd-Milne holds a raw wood example of how the projects started out

Teacher Bud Halpin helps students Jonathan Martin (L) and Justin Clark (kneeling)

Derrick Ribey and Brody Farrish practise teamwork

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Wednesday, June 23, 2010