Technology melds with construction

Middle school students work with computers to assist in building

By Amie Steffen | The Daily Journal

Published Thursday, January 4, 2007

The loud, whirring sound of multiple electric sanders fills the expanse of Sam Bellig’s classroom as students smooth the rough edges of their wooden creations. Projects like working lamps and mirrors are made here by seventh- and eighth-graders at Fergus Falls Middle School, just like they were 20 or 30 years ago.

But step through an adjoining door, the one also marked “Industrial Technology,” and Paul Talley’s classroom looks and sounds markedly different. Instead of hammers and saws, Talley’s students use computer modules and circuitry to wire a lightswitch or program a robotic arm. Seventh- and eighth-graders here cut and fit plumbing, learn about fiber optic systems and design and print their own T-shirts.

“Industrial tech has changed,” Talley, who has taught at FFMS for three years, said. “We’re not building birdhouses.”

Even Bellig’s classroom — what Talley considers the “traditional” component of the department — one-ups the birdhouse by teaching students to make scaled-down models of single-family dwellings.

But if they wanted to, Talley’s students could draft a model birdhouse on a computer, test the strength of the wood, install electricity and plumbing and even make those electrical components run off of solar and wind energy.

Those would be some lucky birds. But the students in the program are even luckier, working on brand-new computer modules this year thanks to money in the reserves and a district supportive of the department.

“Fergus is fortunate to have these electives,” Bellig, who’s been teaching Practical Applications in the department since 1989, said. “It’s career awareness.”

And employers say that kind of training early on will give students the edge when it comes to getting a job. Sharyn Graham, systems consulting supervisor at Affiliated Computer Systems in Fergus Falls, said those who are trained in various types of work like middle school students are similarly suited to all kinds of jobs.

“It benefits any company that uses computers, which is every company,” Graham said. “Even if they don’t know specifically, at least they know how to get there.”