New tech-ed teacher introduces laser-engraving manufacturing projects at junior high

Andrew Martin, the new technology-education teacher at Greenfield Central Junior High, introduced his student manufacturing program and showed the board examples of student work, including key chains and a short production video.

Martin, who said he taught and coached in Houston for the past decade before moving to Greenfield Central, told the board the program has shifted to emphasize manufacturing and product production. He said the class uses a small laser engraver donated through the school foundation and Make-A-Wish and that students can operate the machine and teach one another. “The laser has been great for our students, giving them something...they can make in class and then take home with them,” Martin said.

Martin described plans to acquire additional equipment and to offer a level-2 class for current seventh graders when they are in eighth grade; the higher level would let students build larger items such as benches and picnic tables for campus use. He said the current laser’s bed is small — about 4 by 4 inches — and that acquiring a second unit would allow the class to produce more work without tying up the whole class period on a single machine.

Three students — Blake Debris, Aidan Giannisie and Maria Marisol — accompanied Martin and provided samples; each student had a small key chain and a program packet for board members. The board applauded the program’s alignment with new high-school graduation pathways and the district’s media and career programming.

No budget motion was made at the presentation. Martin said the program plans further equipment purchases and curriculum expansion in coordination with high-school teachers.