By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
Starting in the 2019-2020 school year, Brandon High School will launch their construction trades program with the help of Eric Swanson, who will be teaching wood working.
“We’re really just bringing back wood working to the high school at Brandon,” said Swanson. “It’s a very practical and fun way for kids to learn skills.”
Swanson, who has been a teacher for more than 16 years, was officially hired at the board meeting Monday night by a 5-0 vote. Board members Kevin McClellan and Sarah Allen were absent with notice.
“Sure, they’re going to learn some traditional skills, but we’re also going to be making like furniture and they’ll get a choice of what they can make,” he said. “We’re going to build things like furniture and wooden canoes and kayaks and paddle boards, tiny houses on wheels.”
Swanson previously taught science and worked as a counselor, and has done a lot of wood working projects as a passion of his.
“They’re great skills and they’re fun too,” he said. “We learn by doing. I love it, I got into wood working at a younger age and I fell in love with it because there was always something new.”
Brandon Superintendent Dr. Matt Outlaw is also looking forward to getting the program launched.
“We have great interest from our students in this area, but we have struggled to find the right instructor to lead this program. We have recruited very hard and we were fortunate to find such a great educator like Eric Swanson. His vision for the program is exactly what we were looking for,” said Outlaw.
“He wants to teach students skills, but more importantly, he wants them to find a love of working with their hands and creating. With the creative approach to work working (Canoe building, tiny house construction, furniture building etc..), he is creating excitement about the subject area. The skills that he will teach will be perfect for those interesting in building trades, but it can apply to almost any student on almost any pathway.”

Swanson is most excited for the creative aspect of the program.
“You get to be creative and out of wood make almost anything as long as you can figure out a way to do it,” he said. “When you’re done you have this thing you made with your own hands.You have a sense of pride.”
The plan for the woodworking class aligns with Brandon’s goal to make students career and college ready when they graduate, and Outlaw says the district has been working on bringing relevance to their classes that connect learning with student interests and future plans.
“There are tens of thousands of jobs available at this time in the trades,” said Outlaw. “Brandon is working to put our graduates in the best position possible for success at the next level. While most of our students will continue on to 4 year colleges, there are enormous opportunities in the trades across the nation.”
The class is also part of the career-technical program that Outlaw is hoping to launch in the district with other types of shop classes in addition to wood shop.
“Brandon has also been working with Holly and Clarkston on a potential career-technical consortium to potentially begin in the fall of 2020,” he said. “Brandon would house a machining and welding program that would be available to Brandon students as well as students from Holly and Clarkston. The three districts have applied for a $1.5 million grant through the Michigan Marshall Plan for Talent Initiative to launch this consortium.”