Ferris Technology Lab Opens Career Awareness

Ferris High School students are learning the tricks of many trades this year with a new state-of-the-art technology lab.

Designed to give students hands-on experience in different job fields, the lab includes career-themed modules covering the basics of everything from hydraulics to music recording.

While senior Daniel Kornmeyer uses a computer graphics program to design a Volkswag4n T-shirt - it reads “I live to drive VW’s” - junior Chris Chilcote builds a model of a washing machine.

Other students use their class time to edit video images or take apart a computer hard drive.

The district installed the $125,000 state-funded lab over the summer. Already, six class periods a day are nearly filled with students hungry for access to technology.

A similar lab was installed at Rogers High School, where so many students flocked to the class that it prompted a waiting list.

“The future is computers,” explained Ferris senior Josh Shelton, 17, who plans to study business administration at Pepperdine University next year. “This class has everything, every job field.”

And every career path.

Not all students in the class are heading to college next year, and the lab is designed to accommodate that. It also introduces students to career possibilities they’ve never considered.

That’s perfect for students like Kornmeyer, who is considering community college for next year.

Before this class, he didn’t have any idea what to study. The graphics module has sparked some interest, he said.

“What we’re trying to do here is have such a mix that we can cover many career areas,” said Bob Baker, who oversees the Ferris lab along with fellow teacher Mike Nepean.

“We’re not trying to teach them in depth. We’re trying to introduce them to a broad base of technology paths.”

Students learn the basics of fluid power at one module. Baker said students in a two-year fluid power program at the community college level are hired straight out of school.

“There’s a huge demand for this,” said Baker.

Each module includes a computer that guides students through the lessons. Students spend about two weeks at a station, first taking a pretest in the subject area, then learning more through video and written lessons as well as hands-on application.

“The strength (of the lab) is it addresses every learning style,” said Baker.

A lab that focuses on health and fitness, for example, includes an exercise bike so students can monitor their working heart rates. Students at the biology station grow brine shrimp and use a blender to make paper.

The course, called “Exploring Technology Applications,” is open to all students, regardless of their technology background.

Some students who have their own computers at home say the class is a cinch. Others say it’s far beyond anything they’ve done before.

This caused some concern last year when the school board approved the lab. Then-board President Nancy Fike voted against the proposal, saying she was concerned students wouldn’t have the math and technology basis to make the modules meaningful.

But students can select one of three levels at each lab, based on their abilities.

David Wakeman, 18, plans to study engineering at Gonzaga University next year. He said he chose the class because it had more advanced technology than he’d had access to before.

Wakeman spent a recent morning testing a program he and a classmate spent days writing.

He’d waded his way through 58 lines of code, hoping his efforts would in the end cause a drill to engrave a piece of wax with his initials. The milling machine is one of the lab’s modules.

A small group of students gathered to watch as the drill lowered, pressing through the wax block.

“Kids walk through the door - they don’t even know this exists as a career option,” said Baker.