After a conversation with her freshman-year welding teacher sparked her curiosity, junior Lilly Kaat helped technology education teacher Christina Rose generate the necessary student interest for Metal Design to be offered.
“I ended up talking with a bunch of my friends, and we got enough people interested in the class to be able to run it,” Kaat said.
Metal Design, also known as Metals, is a class that has been revised since its last time being offered during the 2022-2023 school year.
According to Mary Kosirog, instructional supervisor for the Career and Technical Education Department, the class tends to resurface every few years when enough students express interest in taking it.
In response to growing student interest and underutilized equipment, Rose asked Kosirog if she could redesign the class.
“I’m like, ‘That’s a great idea,’” said Kosirog. “So I just supported her with her dream.”
When looking at what courses to add and what students are interested in, we listen and think about what we can do to meet their needs, Kosirog said.
According to Rose, Metals is a technology class that incorporates jewelry-making into lessons about 3D modeling, design and manufacturing.
Rose kept the original curriculum in place and updated the projects to focus on jewelry that can be made with current technology such as the laser engraver and 3D printer.
“The past teacher used to make a lot of belt buckles,” said Rose. “I don’t see a lot of students wearing belt buckles anymore, so I thought I would switch [the class] up to some new projects.”
For their first project, students made dog tags using the laser engraver.
“That was just a nice, easy project to teach,” said Rose. “Get the students introduced to the laser engraver, and then some of the software that we’ll be using to create some of our designs.”
According to Kaat, going into the class, she had no clue what projects the class would consist of.
“After the first day, we ran through the different projects,” said Kaat. “I’m currently very excited for opal inlay rings.”
In the classroom, students use LeBlond lathes, which are machines used to shape and cut metal into precise forms, to manufacture and create the inlay rings with crushed opal. Students are also taught to make pendants, sea glass necklaces and laser-engraved water bottles.
The class structure allows students to work on projects simultaneously.
“Students who finish early on a project can work on another using the same technique and with less step-by-step instruction,” said Kaat. “As projects go on, they get more complex with combining multiple techniques.”
According to Rose, she is passionate about recruiting females into technology, and Metals is a fun way of doing so.
“My current class is 50 percent female, which is a lot higher than my other classes,” said Rose.
For projects requiring fine detail, Rose partners with Master Casting and Cad in downtown Chicago to assist students with completing projects that need advanced technology, such as the wax 3D printer, the lost wax and the centrifuge casting.
By using the right technology, students can create higher-quality jewelry, Rose said.
Rose is in the process of setting up a field trip to Master Casting and Cad with intent to go on Oct. 25, she said.
According to Kaat, the creativity of the class and how it leads to a physical product that students can use or wear is something she appreciates.
“I think [this class] is really valuable because there’s a lot of creativity that goes into it, and a lot of the time you don’t get that a lot with standard classes,” Kaat said.