Tara Hoff, the new Woods teacher, is challenging her students to create a Scavenger Hunt, which any East students and staff can participate in starting on Monday, Oct. 20 until Oct. 31.
For the scavenger hunt, students will not get any clues as to where the objects have been hidden. The objects to look for include small, wooden items that Hoff’s students made, such as miniature handsaws, nuts, little people and more. Anyone who finds one of these figures can bring it back to the woodworking classroom G417 for a prize. Hoff said she plans to use the school’s wood’s budget to fund snacks as a prize.
Hoff’s students came up with the scavenger hunt idea from a story she told them about a class from 1999 that hid stuff around the building as a way to make a more lasting impression on the school. Those items would be at the school long after they’d graduated, almost assuring that others would never forget their class.
In Hoff’s classes, what students learn depends on what level of woodworking they are in. Woods 1 students, for example, learn jobsite safety, how to use hand tools, power tools and reading measurements. They also have projects, like making a cutting board. Woods 2 builds on those skills from Woods 1, while also learning about different trades, and the process of building a wall/ unit. At the end of Woods 2, students should be able to pass a national certification program that will help get them into Tech school curriculum. Woods 3 and 4 students build on things they have previously learned. These classes help students get into a creative spirit, and the scavenger hunt project is just one way they’ve been able to showcase it.
Before Hoff came to East, she owned and operated a construction business.
“I want to incorporate a construction aspect to woodworking,” Hoff said.
Her time at East so far “has been very eventful, rewarding and fun,” she said.
“It has been chaotic and she’s still figuring things out,” junior Henry Riley said. “Ms. Hoff trusts us to be capable to use the machinery… I like how woods class is different from all my other classes.”
