Did You Know?

Did you know that the Issaquah Schools Foundation provides funding for programs like "Design Lab" at Gibson Ek High School? Read more to learn about how the students are crafting a cedar-strip canoe!

Five times over the course of an academic year, students at Gibson Ek choose a "Design Lab" from as many as nine options. Two weeks into the second cycle of these elective courses, the Cedar-strip Canoe Lab was completely filled with students who had selected this option as their first choice! The Design Lab has allowed both novice and experienced woodworkers to take full advantage of the school's woodshop. The challenge of authentic collaboration to pursue an exciting common goal has proved to be a fantastic catalyst for learning. Students are currently designing, modeling, prototyping, and building the mold (aka "strongback"). The sheer scale of the work and the redundancy of the tasks ensure the opportunity for students of all skill levels to be involved. 
 
By the conclusion of the Design Lab, the strongback will be complete and the cedar stripping will have begun, at which point we envision a smaller team of students will take on the final stages as part of their independent work. 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MufMQE1_FuIuznXPB-s1Qyl0w_jEN4SqdHKDm5UhOWE/edit