a questionable cut

What you see in the photo is not good. The young woman with her shop teacher or a fellow student standing over appears to be getting ready to free hand a board through the table saw. I hope this is not the case, as it should not be. Safety requires that she use the table saw's miter gauge or a sled to make the cut. If she is using the fence to control the length of the cut, the risk of kickback is extremely high. If she is simply going to stick the wood into the blade her chances of an accurate cut are null and the risks of serious injury are high.

The picture is from a web page advertising Concordia University's online industrial arts teacher program. Other than the photo that screams STOP!!! The page offers useful information for anyone wanting to become an industrial arts teacher and asks:
Who makes a good industrial arts teacher? People who are:

• Good with their hands
• Fanatical about problem solving
• A compulsive tinkerer
• Sociable and easy to talk to
• Patient and resourceful
• Capable of motivating and inspiring students
• Organized and careful about time management
• Devoted to service and education
• Thoughtful about interacting with people from diverse backgrounds
• Qualified with a degree in an education-related field

The web page further suggests:

Becoming an industrial arts teacher requires a high level of skill in two areas. First, you must have mastery of the industrial arts you plan to teach. Second, you must have expertise in teaching itself. No matter how skillful you are as a carpenter, you won’t succeed as an industrial arts teacher if you can’t teach woodworking skills to others.

I hope everyone understands that teaching industrial arts requires much more than online learning. Assuring safe practices (both in teaching and making) requires actual experience. One of the best ways to assure safe learning and safe teaching is to take a class. Steve Palmer's 3 day class at ESSA would be a good starting point.

This is my last day of teaching for this school year. I begin preparing for adult summer classes.

Make, fix, create,and make way for others to learn likewise.