Upcoming Events

540-898-2730 | admin@fabava.com

Upcoming Schedule

SPOTSYLVANIA HIGH CLASS MAKING SKATEBOARDS

Spotsylvania High shop students making skateboards as final project

by Adele Uphaus

Christian Kelley uses a bandsaw to trim a skateboard deck while Edwin Martinez (background) sands the edges of his board during a recent woodworking class at Spotsylvania High School.

photos by MIKE MORONES / THE FREE LANCE-STAR

In making a skateboard, students use math, science and art and learn design and manufacturing skills.

Blank skateboard decks are ready to be cut and transformed into working skateboards in Josiah Stinson’s woodshop class at Spotsylvania High School in Spotsylvania, Va. on Thursday, May 13, 2021. The materials and instructions come from Createaskate.org.

Teenagers can get only so excited about making birdhouses and stools, said Spotsylvania High School teacher Josiah Stinson.

“They want to make something that reaches out and speaks to them,” said Stinson, who teaches manufacturing and industrial technology and was named Spotsylvania High’s Teacher of the Year for 2021.

Stinson’s students did make birdhouses and stools earlier this year, but for their end-of-the-year project, they’re making skateboards—a project they self-funded by raising $1,500 selling handmade cutting boards as Christmas gifts.

WATCH NOW: Spotsylvania students build skateboards

“This was about finding a project that connects better with teenagers—that was my goal,” Stinson said. “It’s not only giving them skills, but they can go, ‘Hey, I can put some trucks and wheels on this and I can ride it.’ ”

The students purchased a program called CreateASkate from a nonprofit started by renowned skateboard manufacturer Paul Schmitt, who owns the company PS Stix and is known in the industry as “Professor Schmitt” for his expertise in skateboard design. CreateASkate provides professionally pressed skateboard blanks and a curriculum to schools.

When they build a skateboard, students learn design, engineering and manufacturing skills, and also get an opportunity to apply math, science and art.

“Skateboards have complicated shapes,” Stinson said. “They’re not just flat. They’re bent, laminated pieces of wood, and they have graphics, so kids learn how graphics catch the eyes of skaters. They’re not only building skateboards, but creating a project with an art association.”

There are also business and marketing applications for the skateboard project, Stinson said.

“No one is going to go into business selling birdhouses, but this could be a possible business,” he said.

Stinson is in his first year teaching, after transitioning from an active-duty military career.

All summer, he said, he worried about how he would be able to teach a hands-on skill like manufacturing to students in a virtual environment—not to mention how he would be able to connect with and inspire them from a distance.

“I was fretting, thinking, what am I going to do? What am I going to do?” Stinson said.

The skateboard project is also a product of many local connections and community partners.

A contact at Atlantic Builders put Stinson in touch with the Fredericksburg Area Builders Association, which provided him with an $1,800 grant so he could buy tools for all of his students to take home so they would have something to work with while school was virtual.

“With my budget at the beginning of the year, it was either, do I buy tools or lumber?” Stinson said. “So I said we’re going to build a few things and now find products we’re able to sell to recoup our money and fund an end-of-the-year project.”

In the fall, the Fredericksburg area Lions Club and the Workshop—a Fredericksburg-based woodworking shop that offers classes and woodworking supplies—donated additional funds and materials so Stinson’s students could make cutting boards to sell.

Local heating and cooling company Loving Air purchased 35 of the cutting boards to give employees as Christmas gifts and the funds raised allowed Stinson to purchase the CreateASkate program for his students.

Stinson hopes the skateboard project will lead to more community partners interested in working with the school division to help teach applicable skills to students.

“I’d like the general public be more aware of the skills that I’m trying to teach in these technology education classes,” he said.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Print
Fredericksburg Area Builder's Association

Fredericksburg Area Builder's Association

The Fredericksburg Area Builders Association (FABA), chartered in 1968 and incorporated in 1980 has hundreds of members both builders and associates. These members represent thousands of people whose livelihoods are directly tied to the building and building-related industries. FABA, a tax-exempt trade association, is affiliated with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Home Builders Association of Virginia (HBAV). With its main purpose to create and maintain a favorable climate for the growth and development of the building industry, the Fredericksburg Area Builders Association seeks to develop and maintain high professional business standards with the ultimate goal of providing home ownership to all individuals and families in our area. Centrally located between Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital, and Richmond, Virginia, the state capital, FABA serves the historic City of Fredericksburg, VA area including the surrounding counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, King George, Caroline, Culpeper and Orange.

FABA NEEDS YOU
FABA HIGHLIGHTS
FABA BENEFITS
Member Savings

NAHB Member Savings Programs

Through agreements with more than 20 national companies, NAHB offers exclusive discounts on a variety of products and services that can benefit your business, employees, or family.

Purchase Code Books

Click here to order 2018 Virginia Construction Code and/or the 2018 Residential Code books from the ICC.

Categories

Related Posts

The FABA Young Professionals

The FABA Young Professionals The Young Professionals committee is for individuals in the 21-40 age group to connect We provide opportunities for professional development, social

Read More »

HBAV Rebates

First Quarter 2022 Deadline is May 27 One of the great benefits of being a FABA member is the product rebates. These rebates are available

Read More »
Skip to content