Students at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School have learned how to make their own music.
The Grade 11 custom woodworking technology class built electric guitars from scratch this semester.
“It’s been an exciting project with 100 per cent buy-in from most of the students where they wanted to build and craft their guitar,” said woodworking teacher Ken Liddicoat.
“They’ve developed some really unique designs and built their woodworking skills. It’s been a really exciting opportunity to work with the students and to watch them learn at the same time I’ve been learning about guitars.”
Students took the skills they learned earlier in the semester – joinery, finishing and wiring – and put it together to craft the guitars.
Next semester they can learn to use the guitars in the school’s music program.
While the school provides equipment, students with their own homemade guitars will have the advantage of being able to take their instruments home for extra practice.
Liddicoat said he hopes it helps them develop a hobby outside of school.
“It’s kind of exciting they can take the skills and their interests and expand them beyond everyday learning,” he said, adding the project also sheds light on the positive things happening inside the school.
“Dennis Franklin Cromarty is part of Thunder Bay. It’s important the community sees what’s going on in the school and the school is part of the community.”
The project came about when school principal Jon Kakegamic approached Erick Hanson, of the Wild Honey Guitar Company, about coming to the school and spicing up the woodworking class with the guitar-making project.
The local guitar-maker was happy to jump on board and has been working with the students for every step of the project.
“We saw this program as making a really good success story,” he said. “It’s about bringing pride to the students, pride in their workmanship. It’s also about teaching them a craft they can reproduce in their own communities.”
Hanson said the students picked up the skills quickly.
“Pretty much any challenge I threw at them, they would work at it a little bit, make a few mistakes and then figure out exactly what they need to do. My learning curve was much more steep than theirs.”
