Cromwell-Wright’s new industrial arts facility is ready for classes – Cloquet Pine Journal

A crowd of people gathered around a 14-foot-tall garage door Thursday, August 29 at Cromwell-Wright Public School for a ribbon cutting and tour of the new industrial technology facility.

The project has been a long time coming, Superintendent Nathan Libbon said at the ceremony. In September 2018, the Cromwell-Wright School Board approved an estimated $2 million building addition, but conversations around the need for an updated facility began years before.

“We decided that in order to best educate our children and put them in a good position to succeed in the future, our current facility was not adequate,” Libbon said. “The community supported us and through a lot of planning we were able to accomplish this.”

The 6,000 square foot facility prioritizes safety and adaptability in its design.

In terms of safety, the tools in the carpentry shop are on a separate side of the room as a welding station to avoid the collision between wood dust and welding sparks, Libbon said.

A walled-in classroom with windows stands in the middle of the workshop space so students can work on design projects in the classroom and others can build in the space of the workshop. workshop while remaining under the supervision of the teacher.

Another district goal was to ensure that the space would be able to withstand future changes in technology, education, and the economy.

“We really wanted to create a facility that could be flexible to meet the ever-changing needs that our kids are going to have, that we’re going to have in the future,” Libbons said.

The design plans for the 14-foot-tall garage door, for example, address possible future needs. The additional storage space built into the design will also meet ever-changing needs, as will the floor drain with oil and water separator.

“We decided it probably wasn’t going to be significant immediately,” Libbons said, “but it could be later, and doing it after the fact would be really cost-prohibitive.”

The school’s new shop class teacher, Jeremy Rach, will teach eight classes at the new facility this school year, including gas metal welding, small construction trades, small gas engines, l housekeeping and wood class, as well as architect and design.

Rach comes to the post from Menahga, Minnesota, and with seven years of teaching under his belt.

“I’m excited that the students can use this new facility and be able to teach them new things,” Rach said.

Some pieces of equipment may be added by trades professionals, such as a CNC router and a plasma table, which is a computer-controlled cutting machine.