The third and 4th grade students finished their solar system models today as shown in the photo above. The first and second grade students began making small hinged boxes to use as "friendship boxes." It is interesting listening to children in the woodshop... what they reveal of their personal lives and thoughts of themselves as they explore their abilities and test their limits. The following quote is from Albert Einstein's book, Ideas and Opinions, shared with me by local essayist, Dan Krotz: “It isn’t enough to teach a man a specialty. Through it he may become a kind of useful machine, but he will not be a harmoniously developed personality. The scientist, undertaker, bricklayer, banker are trained to perform a certain function, but the valuable question is, do they have a vivid sense of the beautiful and of the morally good?”The vivid sense of the morally good and beautiful are things you can learn through skilled craftsmanship, and are the Wisdom of the Hands.
Speaking of the wisdom of the hands, I had to call a plumber today because of a boiler problem. He's probably in his 50's, and says there is a serious shortage of younger workers in heating, plumbing, machine work, all the skilled trades that pay well and provide steady work. A good machinist can make $100K a year in this area, and the average age of machinists is 60. Something to think about.
ReplyDeleteMario
Yeah, but Mario, they get their hands dirty.
ReplyDeleteFoolish me. One of the reasons I work with work, and my garden, is the chance to get dirty every so often.
ReplyDeleteMario