West Valley High School: Cooper McQuitty uses craftsman skills to help others

If you can dream it, West Valley High School senior Cooper McQuitty can build it.

In his home shop, McQuitty completes a lot of woodworking and metal working projects. Lately, he’s been building custom subwoofer boxes and is also doing some fiberglass work.

At West Valley, he can often be found in shop class, building everything from yard games for school barbecues and garden boxes to a cat house made for a Pet Savers auction.

And the work doesn’t stop with McQuitty’s own projects, as he and his friends have been approached by teachers to repair things from their own homes, most recently an old table.

“We’re the guys that people want to go to to get things fixed and things done,” he said. “I really like helping people in aspects that I’m good at, of course. You feel good about it.”

McQuitty has been a craftsman since he was young, following in the footsteps of his late grandfather, who introduced him to various tools and guided him through projects. The pair started with things like birdhouses before moving onto more advanced work as McQuitty became more skilled.

“I really like being a jack of all trades,” he said. “I do a lot of random stuff. I build a little bit in a lot of fields. I just learned a bunch of fiberglass stuff pretty much by myself. I’m a self-taught welder. I had an old truck that I rebuilt, dropped the transmission and everything. I’ve never done any of that before. I like jumping into projects and figuring it out.”

McQuitty takes a lot of pride in his work, which helps at West Valley, where he said students take pride in the school’s legacy, especially when it comes to athletics.

McQuitty himself is on the track team as a discus thrower. Everyone in his family, he said, is a giant who isn’t built for running. Both his brothers pitch in baseball though, so he knew he could throw.

He’s also proud of how the school fared in the Golden Throne and Golden Plunger spirit competitions against rivals East Valley High School. This year, he and some friends participated in a halftime show doing stunts with the cheer team.

He stays busy before school, as well. McQuitty, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, started each day of his high school career in seminary, a gospel study that begins at 6 a.m.

After high school, McQuitty is considering attending school to become a lineman.

“He is a very focused student,” manufacturing teacher Josiah Hunter said. “He knows exactly what he wants. He knows how to get it.”

And even when he faces setbacks, like not receiving a grant for the Pet Savers cat house project, Hunter said McQuitty doesn’t let that stop him. Instead, McQuitty and the friends he was working with approached local businesses and raised the necessary funds to complete the project.

This year marks Hunter’s first teaching in the manufacturing program, which is only becoming more popular with students. McQuitty, he said, is the type of student needed in the program, someone who is focused on their own work but also willing to stop and help others.

He’s hoping that some of the younger students McQuitty is helping see the impact he’s had on the program and continue his legacy as they become upperclassmen.

“They’re getting some firsthand experience with an older student that is as high quality as Cooper, and that rubs off a little and that helps inspire the next group that’s coming up,” he said.