History Comes Alive In Shop Class

[Roy Harding]

From The Globe and Mail, 29 March 2007:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070329.TANK29/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/

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History comes alive in shop class

RACHEL DE LAZZER

As a boy, Sean Carney would climb on Second World War tanks he saw in parks or in front of Legion halls. Yesterday, the 43-year-old shop teacher brought one to school.

Automotive technology students at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute will be refurbishing the tank as part of their course. Mr. Carney, a military history buff, thought it would be a great way to teach them the principles of diesel engines and metal fabrication, and give them an appreciation for a piece of history.

"We talked about it every class," said student Aaron McKee, 17. Asked whether he has ever had a teacher do anything like bring an army tank to class, he said, "Not even close."

"I was thrilled and ecstatic to touch a piece of history -- to have it after it's been through all its turmoil," Tanya Cagna, 17, said.

"This is about exposing my kids to a piece of history," Mr. Carney said. He teaches about 85 students from Grades 9 through 12, including about 15 girls.

He expects the refurbishing to take from two to five years. The tank will then be returned to Base Borden Military Museum in Borden, Ont., which is lending the tank to the school.

It's not the first time Mr. Carney has rolled a massive piece of machinery into the shop. Four or five years ago, he brought in a dump truck. Principal Ron Ellis said they had trouble getting it through the doors. In September, 2006, Mr. Carney asked the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces for a historic tank. In each case, he was told it was a great idea, but it would never happen because of the red tape involved.

In October, however, he took his students on a field trip to the Base Borden Military Museum, where he met retired Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Beaton. Then he made his pitch.

"Anybody that [pursues] Canadian history of any kind, especially military history, I listen to," Mr. Beaton said. "We need all the help we can get because our government tends to forget about our history."

Within 1½ months, Mr. Beaton had cleared up the legal details and paperwork needed to lend the M4 Sherman to the school.

"From a historical point of view, these things are just sitting there rotting," said Mr. Carney, who told the agencies when he made his requests that it wouldn't cost them anything -- and he would give them back a restored tank.

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[career_radio-checker]

7.7: Kilograms, weight of gun (compared with 2.7 kilograms on regular Sherman tank)

No wonder the Shermans couldn't penetrate the German armour. Must be a typo

But all in all what a great teacher. He's like that teacher who is taking 3000 Canadian students to Vimy for the 90th anniversary of that battle. Nothing works like some hands on experience.

 

[nowhere_man]

I want to know what kind of a High School still teaches shop. Right now I'm in a class that is supposed to teach me how to type but I already know how to type. I'd rather be in something useful like shop class.

 

[Bobby Rico]

Man, that's what I call a shop class.  All we ever did in mine was screw up the class car's transmission.

in respose to nowhere_man-  I think the only high schools that have REAL shop classes anymore are ones in small towns.  I swear, most of the students had no idea what shop class was when I moved to Toronto.

 

[GAP]

Wish there were more teachers with that much passion around....

 

[career_radio-checker]

Man, that's what I call a shop class.   All we ever did in mine was screw up the class car's transmission.

I never did a shop class but I did do a metal work class. All we ever did was arcweld all the scrap pieces of metal together into one big heavy hunk'o junk. The standing bet was to see who could get our works of art the tallest before the end of class / or we got caught.

Ahhhhh, the countless afternoons spent with chisel and hammer taking our masterpieces down... brings back memories.  ;D

 

[Bobby Rico]

Ohh man, metal works class- now there's some memories...painful memories.  Needless to say, I think I burned myself more than anyone else in that class whilst operating the MIG welders.  I dropped that class pretty quick in favor of drama because of all the burnings.

 

[KwaiLo]

I sent this link to my boss last week, and he in turn sent it to our VP of ales and Marketing.  The VP contacted Sean Carney, and spoke about the assistance that we can provide.  The company I work for is a Tier 1 manufacturer of operator cabs to Hitachi, Komatsu, Arva etc.

Right now, the assistance required is technical, but will become material later in the project, once a plan has been developed.  I have spoken to a few of the vendors that I deal with as well, and have commitments to assist in this project from 2 of 4, with the others checking their bosses.

I will post back as I am able, and there will be a challenge to those of you in the business world.  If he can rebuild a tank in 4 years without corporate help, what can he do with help?  3 years?  2 years?  1 year?

 

[sober_ruski]

Just wait 'til some soccer mom pipes up about it promoting war or some other bullshit like that.

On shop classes. My HS had wood, metal, mechanics, electronics, engineering shop classes