by Lauren Kenney |

A grant is a sum of money given by an organization for a particular purpose, so what if someone were granted thousands of dollars? What would that person do? Last spring, the Industrial Technology program wanted to offer a class that involved more machinery work. They were awarded $181,000 dollars.

“We had a 75 percent state match, which was a good deal for us,” technology teacher Mark Blakley said. With the money, they bought five new CNC machines, which stands for computer numerical control. This includes a router, mill, lathe, plasma cutter, and a laser. With all this new equipment, students have been able to do more projects.

“Right now we are working on writing codes on the computer so we can engrave our initials into a block of wood,” sophomore Gavin Stark said.

Plans for this new class came together at the very beginning of August, so teachers made contacts with students to see who might be interested in joining the class.

“We had to call and get people to join the class. Right now, we have two classes and there are 10 students in each class,” teacher Dennis Blochlinger said. “The class is called CIM, which stands for Computer Integrated Manufacturing. It is a high tech class, very hands on with lots of problem solving and making things.”

Around the school, students may have seen that all the teachers have wooden plaques.  The CIM students made around 180 plaques.

“It took about 40 minutes from designing to engraving,” said Blochlinger. One of the hardest parts was to make sure no errors occurred. A few mistakes were made and they had to remake about eight. On the plaques, students etched teacher’s name, almamater, and mascot.

“The plaques were one of the nicest gifts to get from teaching. I was surprised because I know it took so long to make and they were done so well,” teacher Briday Ware said. “I know a lot of teachers are proudly displaying them for everyone to see. Its also a good way to show how education is important outside of high school.”

Another project they are working

on right now is, “Writing codes so we can write out initials into a block of wood,” sophomore Gavin Stark said. “I’m excited about this class and it has a lot to do with what I want to do when I’m older.”

“My favorite part about this class is all the new machines we get to work with,” senior Nate Carl said. “So far, my favorite thing we made is the transporter system. It turns motors and gears. If you like working with computers and it all makes sense to

you, then this would be a great class to take.”

This is just the beginning of what

hopes to be a successful class. Juniors Kyle Bowers and Connor Mcneil both agreed that they enjoy all the hands-on work.

Their next big project in the class is going to be where students take the statement, “I hate it when…” and come up with a solution for that problem by creating something with the new equipment. These are just a few of the projects they do. If any of these projects sound interesting, then this would be the perfect class to join!