Amherst has a new Technical Education space in the STEAM addition, so I talked to some teachers and the Amherst principal to get their opinions on the new space.

Mr. Miller has been teaching here since 2013. He said the new area is 20% bigger with three new spaces divided by activity. Before Mr. Miller became a teacher, he was a car mechanic, but he’s been teaching for 23 years. He became a teacher because he wanted to help students find out what they want to do in life. He said the importance of Tech Ed is that students can learn lifelong skills and become problem solvers. This year, he will teach Construction, Intro to Metals, Architecture Systems, Small Engines, and Advanced Metals in the new building.

In these new spaces, they brought in some of the old machinery but they got some new things too. Some of the new machines they got include new metal lathes, mills, welders, wood planer, and sander. What they kept from the old building were table saws, laser engravers, a welder, and a plasma table.

Because so many kids want to take Tech Ed classes, Amherst has two teachers in this department. The new Tech Ed teacher, Mr. Linde, just started this year. He says the importance of Tech Ed is that the students get to do hands-on activities and it’s good for them to experience the change of pace from class to class. 

“Students learn some life/job skills and learn to work with their hands,” Mr. Linde said, when asked about the importance of taking Tech Ed classes. He thinks that most of the the kids like these classes after a while of having them.

Principal Klieforth says Tech Ed is important because there’s a shortage of people going into Tech Ed jobs. What he likes about the new building is that there are new pieces of equipment in modern spaces. Klieforth said its important to have Tech Ed classes because that’s where students learn skills they can use in life and in a career.