Parts will soon be available for any and all applications...

[David Maxwell]

...due to this new(er) technology. I was extremely lucky to have written a grant which was approved and I was able to purchase one of these for my Multimedia program at the high school I teach at. Watch the video of Jay Leno making some part prototypes via this link:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=944641

You'll be amazed! One of my projects I have planned is to make a scale model of the P15 using it. I also plan on making a moving parts model of the P15 engine.

[oldmopar]

Maybe make a few wiper knobs and other small items and have the marketing students sell them so it looks like its for the students

[Flatie46]

Man that's hi tech, thats gonna be a popular setup.

[David Maxwell]

...however, the only way to get knobs that look truly original is to cast them like Kevin does. That way you get the right texture, the right color and the right amount of translucency. Still, I could make some that would work for the typical driver that doesn't care too much if looks exactly like the original. Something to think about.

What my students are doing already is creating their own bobble heads. They create whatever body they want and then we map their heads and they create a 3D wire mesh of it. Then they distort it to exaggerate their features and we print their head separately. We attach them to body with a spring and voila! A custom bobble head. It's fun and we might start selling them for a fundraiser.

Maybe make a few wiper knobs and other small items and have the marketing students sell them so it looks like its for the students

[RobertKB]

I saw that on TV. It really is an interesting piece of technology. It will help people make hard to find or make parts for their cars. I have a feeling it will be expenisve however as you will still need to get the part machined.

[David Maxwell]

...it's the prototype you pay for. Since you're making that yourself, the major cost is covered. That is except for the $19,000 price of the printer and $2900 for the scanner and another $3000 for the software:D

I saw that on TV. It really is an interesting piece of technology. It will help people make hard to find or make parts for their cars. I have a feeling it will be expenisve however as you will still need to get the part machined.

[Don Jordan]

I'm impressed you were able to get the money from the school district.

The best I could do for my class was to get a 3.5 hp Briggs and Straton.

It's sad what "they" are doing to the school system. I teach an after school program on small gas engines to kids who have little chance of graduating from high school because of their lack of interest, drugs, gangs - whatever. The powers that be want them to be taught literature that they don't have the vocabulary for, math/algebra that they don't have the skills for and then they wonder why the kids lose interest and drop out.

When I was in high school I took wood shop, auto shop, metal shop - everyone is in favor of education no one wants to pay for it.

Sorry - don't mean to rant. I really enjoy Leno's videos. I guess if I had more money than God I'd have a big garage too.

[Captain Neon]

Not to start a fight, but I do get annoyed when school districts that rarely produce a college graduate think it necessary to build elaborate new sports stadiums. While I realise that no one is holding a gun to these kids' heads, it is frustrating to see so many kids maimed for life playing football. Many are too crippled to do manual labour and the rest aren't smart enough to go to college to get a desk job. It esp. annoys me that a gun IS held to my head to pay for sports and poor education systems. What was that whole thing about Bread and Circuses...?

[martybose]

Not to start a fight, but I do get annoyed when school districts that rarely produce a college graduate think it necessary to build elaborate new sports stadiums. While I realise that no one is holding a gun to these kids' heads, it is frustrating to see so many kids maimed for life playing football. Many are too crippled to do manual labour and the rest aren't smart enough to go to college to get a desk job. It esp. annoys me that a gun IS held to my head to pay for sports and poor education systems. What was that whole thing about Bread and Circuses...?

I'm less concerned about turning out college graduates, I'm more concerned about how few auto mechanics, plumbers, carpenters and metal workers our high schools produce. Not to mention musicians as well. At least in California, our education system sucks.

Marty

[Tony Cipponeri]

Sorry Guys, But our WHOLE government SUCKS. Tony C

[Young Ed]

Apparently we've had issues for a while here's a quote from John Adams from ~200 years ago

Mr. Adams: "In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress"

[Frank Elder]

You can blame the school systems and the government till you are blue in the face, a determined person will succede, a lazy one will not....regardless of programs or grants offered.

The world needs ditch diggers too, harsh but true you have to want it, nobody owes you anything much.

2 cents.

[Joe Flanagan]

Young Ed:

Great quote from John Adams. Reminds me of one from Winston Churchill: "Man occasionally stumbles upon the truth but he usually picks himself up and continues on as if nothing had happened."

[David Maxwell]

...and drummed up some negativity by accident. As a 15 year veteran teacher in a public high school, I can tell you that our ed system does NOT suck. We have an incredible group of dedicated teachers with outstanding education, work experience and motivation. Like any profession, there are a few bad ones for sure. But attributing student failure to teachers is a little like failing to put oil in your engine, using cheap parts or duct tape for repairs and then telling everyone your mechanic is a crook because he charged you big bucks for repairs that couldn't possibly have been your fault. Here's the deal: Society is very different and the attitudes and expectations of students are much different than when most of us were in school. Parents are FAR LESS INVOLVED than they used to be. Kids play video games instead of doing homework, use drugs that we couldn't have dreamed of, have sex before junior high and then they're sent to us. So we're like the mechanic who is brought the unmaintained lemon and then blamed for its problems. Get real! All the standardized testing, and government mandates in the world aren't going to change a thing until things get right at home.

Sermon finished.

I'm less concerned about turning out college graduates, I'm more concerned about how few auto mechanics, plumbers, carpenters and metal workers our high schools produce. Not to mention musicians as well. At least in California, our education system sucks.

Marty

[martybose]

...and drummed up some negativity by accident. As a 15 year veteran teacher in a public high school, I can tell you that our ed system does NOT suck. We have an incredible group of dedicated teachers with outstanding education, work experience and motivation. Like any profession, there are a few bad ones for sure. But attributing student failure to teachers is a little like failing to put oil in your engine, using cheap parts or duct tape for repairs and then telling everyone your mechanic is a crook because he charged you big bucks for repairs that couldn't possibly have been your fault. Here's the deal: Society is very different and the attitudes and expectations of students are much different than when most of us were in school. Parents are FAR LESS INVOLVED than they used to be. Kids play video games instead of doing homework, use drugs that we couldn't have dreamed of, have sex before junior high and then they're sent to us. So we're like the mechanic who is brought the unmaintained lemon and then blamed for its problems. Get real! All the standardized testing, and government mandates in the world aren't going to change a thing until things get right at home.

Sermon finished.

David,

I have no issues with the quality of teachers, I have nothing but admiration for them, and my college-age daughter wants to be a math teacher! My beef is with the lack of support for them. No supplies, no equipment, classes too large, etc. When I graduated from our local high school you could take any of 6 different languages, they had well-equipped auto, metal, and wood shops and there was a diversity of classes to suit the individual students. Now there are just a couple of spanish classes, all of the shops are shuttered, and there are no advanced or alternative classes anymore. Blehhhhh!!!

Marty

[Don Jordan]

I don't know what the big deal is - If California were a country it would be the 13th in production (don't know if that's true but I'm spreading the myth). I've heard California is one of the largest rice producers in the world. Marijuana is probably one our largest cash crops - and we rank 48th in education.

[David Maxwell]

Marty, I understand and appreciate your input. I wish your daughter well. There is a strong need for more math teachers to be sure and I really hope that she finds her career rewarding. In spite of all the ridiculous flack we get, I still love my job. Just hope I still have one in a year or two.

Don, you're right on the money there! For all the complaints, people don't understand that California teachers face by far the greatest challenges and do it with the least amount funding.

Amen to all of you who support vocational education (now called Career Technical Education). We keep hearing about all the support we have in Sacramento, but they keep cutting our funding and our positions. One of my school's greatest losses in the past few years has been our Automotive Tech program.

David,

I have no issues with the quality of teachers, I have nothing but admiration for them, and my college-age daughter wants to be a math teacher! My beef is with the lack of support for them. No supplies, no equipment, classes too large, etc. When I graduated from our local high school you could take any of 6 different languages, they had well-equipped auto, metal, and wood shops and there was a diversity of classes to suit the individual students. Now there are just a couple of spanish classes, all of the shops are shuttered, and there are no advanced or alternative classes anymore. Blehhhhh!!!

Marty

[Captain Neon]

No complaints from this quarter about teachers and their dedication. I only wish my unwillingly extracted tax dollars were being used for their intended purposes. It just seems a shame that schools are being turned into an extension of the entertainment industry rather than educating kids to be productive self-reliant individuals.

BTW, Ed I can't agree more with Mr. Adams' quote.

[Norm's Coupe]

I know I've come down on the school systems myself in the past. However, I will agree that not everyone can be a space engineer, nor should we want that or should they be. We also need people who get their hands dirty working in all industries. That's one of the problems today. The professors and colleges push these kids and tell them they will live in a cardboard hut if they don't spend 10's of thousands to go to college and become a professional engineer, etc. There are a lot people who make more than a college graduate does and only have a high school technical education. And, they don't owe their soles to some bank to pay off a college education. But........no one pushes the technical schools like they should, so the kids go broke on paying for college.

That said, some of the teachers are not all that great. Teachers should not get automatic pay raises just because they have taught for X number of years. They should only get a raise based on their job performance. That means doing a good job and weeding out the kids in the classroom that make it hard for them to teach, and not interested in learning. That's the way things were when I went to school.

You really can't blame a teacher for a kids unruly behavior in school. That blame goes directly to the parents. If the parents spent more time raising their kids with manners and discipline, maybe the kids would not be acting up in the classroom or on the streets. Problem is, the parents are too busy working to keep up with the Jones' and simply let the kids do as they wish. Maybe this economic downturn will be a plus in disguise. Maybe now there will be at least one parent at home on a regular basis to watch and teach their kids the basics. That's not the teachers job, and unlike what Hillary said, it's also not the villages job to raise other peoples kid either.

While the cost of Davids new computer system is high, I see nothing wrong with a school spending that kind of money to teach kids a trade or profession. It's much better than what our school board wants to do. They want to spend millions on new schools. Yet, we have perfectly good school buildings that have been closed down over the years due to lack of students. So........instead of wasting money building new buildings, they should open up the old buildings and use those. It would save millions of tax dollars and at the same time give them more money to spend on instructional media of some type, or better teachers.

[Niel Hoback]

Here in Hobart Indiana, we just built and opened a new high school. It cost $61,000,000.

I was told it has a Starbuck's in the lobby. I said I didn't believe that, but kids that go there said yes, there is, all the schools around here have them.

In 1958 to 1961 I was taught to use a 12" South bend lathe, a shaper and a milling machine. My kids don't know what those things are.

I asked about a metal shop class at the new school and was met with a blank stare and "We don't need that right now".

I am more than willing to pay higher taxes for a new school if it will prepare kids for life, but I have to wonder how much I paid for them to have an overpriced cup of coffee, and what they could have spent that money on instead. Thanks for letting me vent.

[Norm's Coupe]

Here in Hobart Indiana, we just built and opened a new high school. It cost $61,000,000.

I was told it has a Starbuck's in the lobby. I said I didn't believe that, but kids that go there said yes, there is, all the schools around here have them.

In 1958 to 1961 I was taught to use a 12" South bend lathe, a shaper and a milling machine. My kids don't know what those things are.

I asked about a metal shop class at the new school and was met with a blank stare and "We don't need that right now".

I am more than willing to pay higher taxes for a new school if it will prepare kids for life, but I have to wonder how much I paid for them to have an overpriced cup of coffee, and what they could have spent that money on instead. Thanks for letting me vent.

Niel,

You just touched on one thing about the parents of today's kids, not to mention the shop classes.

You sound like you are about my age, so we grew up about the same time. As you mentioned, back then we didn't have a Starbucks in school. Not only didn't we have a Starbucks in school, we weren't even allowed to drink coffee at home. It was milk for meals. Water, soda or kool aide on a very rationed basis. There was no soda or candy vending machines in school either. The only thing you got to eat at school was either a plate lunch or sandwich, brick of ice cream or pudding, and that's it, unless you brought your own lunch from home. We were also not allowed to leave the school grounds during school either.

School kids of any age do not need coffee as far as I'm concerned.

[David Maxwell]

While we certainly don't have a Starbucks on campus here, If you think about it, it's not a bad idea at all. The reality is that a large percentage of the kids in high school pick up a Starbucks drink on the way to school. If a school opens a Starbucks outlet in the cafeteria, it generates INCOME for the school. Because so many schools are UNDERFUNDED these days, they are coming up with more and more creative ways to make up the difference. As an added benefit, teachers might be able to buy a coffee during their workday. Woo hoo! Imagine that!! We could live like professionals! Currently, as a teacher, you are unable to leave school grounds during the work day. You are NEVER allowed to be LATE! You can't go to the bathroom until the 10 minute break because you can't leave students alone for a second. You arrive at work before 7:30 AM, get 1/2 hour for lunch and take home several hours of work each night. Oh, and you get those UNPAID vacations. A common misconception is that summers are "three months" paid vacation. NOT TRUE. First of all it's two months and for that time you are UNEMPLOYED. Because the pay for teaching is not comenserate with the educational level attained, the work performed or the responsibility involved..., many teachers find second or thrid jobs juring this period of unemployment to make ends meet.

Yes, it is a SHAME that too much emphasis has been placed on "going to a four year university". Most kids will benefit most from community colleges and trade schools where they can earn two year degrees or certificates in vocational areas that will get them to work quickly and effectively.

Aahh... I could go on forever....

Here in Hobart Indiana, we just built and opened a new high school. It cost $61,000,000.

I was told it has a Starbuck's in the lobby. I said I didn't believe that, but kids that go there said yes, there is, all the schools around here have them.

In 1958 to 1961 I was taught to use a 12" South bend lathe, a shaper and a milling machine. My kids don't know what those things are.

I asked about a metal shop class at the new school and was met with a blank stare and "We don't need that right now".

I am more than willing to pay higher taxes for a new school if it will prepare kids for life, but I have to wonder how much I paid for them to have an overpriced cup of coffee, and what they could have spent that money on instead. Thanks for letting me vent.

[Flatie46]

Yesterday I told my boss about this scanner/printer high tech machine. He was very interested so we go to his office and pull it up. I had to go to to the P15-d24 site first to get the link. When we pulled it up we couldn't get any sound, well it was close to quitten time he said he would check it out later.He told me today his computor now has a virus. No brownie points for me.

[David Maxwell]

Norm, thanks for the positive comments and I know, like most Americans, you mean well. Heck we all have a stake in education succeeding. I've got no problem with pay based upon performance. All I need to see is a meaningful, accurate way of measuring that in a school environment. The current idea is take standardized test scores and give more money to teachers when their students score high and less pay to those who score low. Only problem is that anyone in the profession understands that often the best teachers, who are willing to work with the most difficult students, would end up receiving lower pay for their efforts. Who would want to work in the inner cities? It's already difficult to get good teachers to take on the problems there. If they were faced with the prospect of even lower pay, who would do it? What about differences in curriculum? Teachers of English versus a Vocational teachers. Both deal with many of the same populations, objectives and challenges. Currently the powers that be want a vocational teacher's pay to be measured by the same standardized test scores. That means a Wood Shop teacher's pay would drop if his students scored lower on their English test. That's the reason many of his students are in Wood Shop!! He could be the world's greatest shop teacher and have his pay cut because of something largely out of his control. Merit pay, in its currently proposed forms, simply does NOT make sense!! Come up with something that has "merit" and I'll buy in to it.

I know I've come down on the school systems myself in the past. However' date=' I will agree that not everyone can be a space engineer, nor should we want that or should they be. We also need people who get their hands dirty working in all industries. That's one of the problems today. The professors and colleges push these kids and tell them they will live in a cardboard hut if they don't spend 10's of thousands to go to college and become a professional engineer, etc. There are a lot people who make more than a college graduate does and only have a high school technical education. And, they don't owe their soles to some bank to pay off a college education. But........no one pushes the technical schools like they should, so the kids go broke on paying for college.

That said, some of the teachers are not all that great. Teachers should not get automatic pay raises just because they have taught for X number of years. They should only get a raise based on their job performance. That means doing a good job and weeding out the kids in the classroom that make it hard for them to teach, and not interested in learning. That's the way things were when I went to school.

You really can't blame a teacher for a kids unruly behavior in school. That blame goes directly to the parents. If the parents spent more time raising their kids with manners and discipline, maybe the kids would not be acting up in the classroom or on the streets. Problem is, the parents are too busy working to keep up with the Jones' and simply let the kids do as they wish. Maybe this economic downturn will be a plus in disguise. Maybe now there will be at least one parent at home on a regular basis to watch and teach their kids the basics. That's not the teachers job, and unlike what Hillary said, it's also not the villages job to raise other peoples kid either.

While the cost of Davids new computer system is high, I see nothing wrong with a school spending that kind of money to teach kids a trade or profession. It's much better than what our school board wants to do. They want to spend millions on new schools. Yet, we have perfectly good school buildings that have been closed down over the years due to lack of students. So........instead of wasting money building new buildings, they should open up the old buildings and use those. It would save millions of tax dollars and at the same time give them more money to spend on instructional media of some type, or better teachers.[/quote']

[Don Coatney]

........instead of wasting money building new buildings' date=' they should open up the old buildings and use those. It would save millions of tax dollars and at the same time give them more money to spend on instructional media of some type, or better teachers.[/quote']

Very good point Norm;

However the real problem is the beauratic red tape BS. Even though the old buildings are sound they do not meet current building codes. It does not matter that they have not burned down in the past 50 years but it matters that they dont have modern sprinkler systems to put out the imaginary fires that may start in there non combustable construction materials that have not burned down in the last 50 years.

Here in Hobart Indiana, we just built and opened a new high school. It cost $61,000,000.

I was told it has a Starbuck's in the lobby.

I attended the public school system all the way through high school. I was not allowed to drink coffee until after I completed high school. I was not allowed to wear blue jeans to school. I was once expelled from high school for smoking on school grounds. I ate lunch every day in the school cafeteria and drank milk with my meal. (how many remember there mother giving them milk money daily?) And now I hear Starbuckerros sells coffee in schools?