May 5th, 2018
21st Century Classroom
A Sign of the Times
By Ella Howe
7th grader at St. Albans City School
ST. ALBANS – In the HOPE classroom of Saint Albans City School, multiple kids with internships associated with HOPE helped design, create and present a new sign for the outside of the school. The idea for a new sign started in the fall after realizing the the old sign looked faded and dated. The students first created a digital design and then made a full size cardboard mock up to present to the principal, Joan Cavallo. A few weeks later, the students presented the mock up to the board members of the Maple Run Unified School District. After interviewing some students, all of them had the same concept in their minds that the project was very fun and involving. Each intern took part in a variety of different jobs to make the sign come together nicely, and indeed it did!
Our new school sign features polished white cedar wood with blue lettering. It is a beautiful addition to the school and a refreshing replacement to the previous weathered and faded sign. The old sign was made of a plywood like material and had a very faded vinyl design on it. It was barely visible due to the weathering. “I’m happy that the new sign will be outside, because it shows visitors how good we are at construction and design.”, 12 year old intern Chris says about the school sign. We are all proud that it showcases the work ethic and creative thinking we have here at St. Albans City School. In the fall the painted 4x4 posts that the sign is hung on will be replaced by cedar posts to match the new sign. The overall creation of this project took approximately 10 student hours. It was a step by step process that involved all of the HOPE interns. The interns had jobs like designing the sign, cutting, sanding and gluing wood, to name a few. Designing the letters and using the laser cutter machine to create the lettering was also a big task students took on. “Getting to use the laser cutter was so cool,” says 4th grade intern Megan. “The project was so fun and I didn’t want it to end!”
The white cedar wood that was retrieved from New York was set to dry for nearly 6 weeks, because it was acquired when the weather was snowy and it had only been milled a few weeks prior! Once the cutting could start, we made 5 separate boards. We sanded the wood and proceeded to glue them together. The design mimicked the cardboard prototype that the students made weeks prior. The base took only a couple of hours to make, so once that was done, the sign lettering could be created and attached. Logan (6th grade) and Megan, interns in the HOPE classroom, participated in creating letters on a laser cutting program and then used the classroom’s laser cutter to make the letters.
“I feel good about the work we’ve done.” Logan says. The interns of HOPE are part of the classroom’s business, Cutting Edge Designs. Though we are working in the HOPE classroom at school, we are making projects for the Cutting Edge Designs business. The interns are working on several new projects, some that will be sold to help Cutting Edge Designs become a self sustaining business and some school wide projects to help benefit all of the students at St. Albans City School. We are all so happy to have our own jobs in this and be able to work during school and learn!
A Sign of the Times
By Ella Howe
7th grader at St. Albans City School
ST. ALBANS – In the HOPE classroom of Saint Albans City School, multiple kids with internships associated with HOPE helped design, create and present a new sign for the outside of the school. The idea for a new sign started in the fall after realizing the the old sign looked faded and dated. The students first created a digital design and then made a full size cardboard mock up to present to the principal, Joan Cavallo. A few weeks later, the students presented the mock up to the board members of the Maple Run Unified School District. After interviewing some students, all of them had the same concept in their minds that the project was very fun and involving. Each intern took part in a variety of different jobs to make the sign come together nicely, and indeed it did!
Our new school sign features polished white cedar wood with blue lettering. It is a beautiful addition to the school and a refreshing replacement to the previous weathered and faded sign. The old sign was made of a plywood like material and had a very faded vinyl design on it. It was barely visible due to the weathering. “I’m happy that the new sign will be outside, because it shows visitors how good we are at construction and design.”, 12 year old intern Chris says about the school sign. We are all proud that it showcases the work ethic and creative thinking we have here at St. Albans City School. In the fall the painted 4x4 posts that the sign is hung on will be replaced by cedar posts to match the new sign. The overall creation of this project took approximately 10 student hours. It was a step by step process that involved all of the HOPE interns. The interns had jobs like designing the sign, cutting, sanding and gluing wood, to name a few. Designing the letters and using the laser cutter machine to create the lettering was also a big task students took on. “Getting to use the laser cutter was so cool,” says 4th grade intern Megan. “The project was so fun and I didn’t want it to end!”
The white cedar wood that was retrieved from New York was set to dry for nearly 6 weeks, because it was acquired when the weather was snowy and it had only been milled a few weeks prior! Once the cutting could start, we made 5 separate boards. We sanded the wood and proceeded to glue them together. The design mimicked the cardboard prototype that the students made weeks prior. The base took only a couple of hours to make, so once that was done, the sign lettering could be created and attached. Logan (6th grade) and Megan, interns in the HOPE classroom, participated in creating letters on a laser cutting program and then used the classroom’s laser cutter to make the letters.
“I feel good about the work we’ve done.” Logan says. The interns of HOPE are part of the classroom’s business, Cutting Edge Designs. Though we are working in the HOPE classroom at school, we are making projects for the Cutting Edge Designs business. The interns are working on several new projects, some that will be sold to help Cutting Edge Designs become a self sustaining business and some school wide projects to help benefit all of the students at St. Albans City School. We are all so happy to have our own jobs in this and be able to work during school and learn!