Hands-On, Hearts-In: Building Trust in the Classroom

As the world grows and technology advances, learning things first-hand is becoming a more significant and important part of the Redwood High School experience.

By: Charlotte Brown

You step into a classroom and are overwhelmed by the sound of students fixing engines and arranging cars to be driven safely. You stroll down the halls and peek into another classroom and smell the delightful aroma of food being cooked by students themselves.

As you walk around the Ranger campus, you see kids from ASB setting up for the next rally and students in photography taking pictures around campus and making things their own.

There are multiple elective courses students can take at Redwood High School to learn what it is like to experience things hands-on. Teachers have the opportunity to teach what they love and see students be inspired and be excited to take what they have learned past their high school years.

Hailey Aston is the ASB teacher at Redwood High School. In ASB students are expected to be on their own and go around campus. They walk around campus and decorate for certain dress-up weeks and have to deliver school spirit. This requires a lot of trust from the teacher in her students.

Aston says, “It is tough sometimes especially in ASB because we have a lot of responsibilities and it requires a lot of trust on my part.”

Upperclassmen and lower class-men are expected to play the same part in ASB. Aston says, “The kids I have had for a few years, I know I can trust them so it is always the new kids that make me a bit nervous but it’s nice when I can see them succeed.”

Hands–on teaching does not come with a curriculum and Aston says that sometimes having a structure would be nice but she is really grateful because Redwood does things so differently that it gives her a sense of freedom.

Diana Garcia is the Food and Nutrition teacher at Redwood. Her course has students in the kitchen and cooking the food. Being around risky utensils and hot stoves that can be dangerous requires, trust from Garcia.

She says, “I want to trust because I feel like I teach them well and then that is when I see who understands it and who does not.”

In the classroom students are expected to cook dangerous foods like raw meat and to make sure it is fully cooked. Garcia says that it’s scary trusting students to cook foods like raw chicken because she doesn’t want anyone sick and she’ll give constant reminders of the dangers.

Garcia adds, “Everything depends on the student, I have certain students I trust more than others. But some I can automatically trust because I see the joy and passion they have for this class and that’s a great feeling.”

John Coon is the Agriculture teacher at Redwood and his class has students working with dangerous things like metal tools and sharp devices.

Coon says, “In my environment, it comes down to making sure they know the safety requirements and that they trust themselves and feel confident enough.”

Coon is able to add to the curriculum set up for his course. He shares that it is nice because he is able to take what they are doing in the real world and add it into the course to prep students for the future.

He says, “The best thing about being a hands-on teacher is that when I see a student and the light bulb turns on and they finally understand it or they made something they are proud of, it makes me feel pleased for them and happy knowing they are proud of themselves.”

Jeffrey Eastman is the Wood Shop teacher at Redwood and his course is made up of building objects with wood and learning the basics of woodworking.

Eastman says, “ I have to build up trust with my students and I do that by being there the first time they use the machines and just making sure I have taught them correctly and that they have learned.”

Wood shop takes practice, as many other things do, and Eastman says he tends to trust his students that have repeated years in his class more than the underclassmen because they know what they are doing and can help him with the incoming freshman.

Eastman adds, “Hands-on teaching is one of the only ways I know how to teach and I enjoy seeing students find out that they can do it and make something they are proud of.”

Nick Miller is a Journalism, Photography and English teacher at Redwood and many of his classes require him to allow his students the trust to go around campus and do what they need to do.

Miller says, “One of the biggest challenges for my job is learning how to differentiate the line between helping students and doing it for them. So I try to show them how to do it by being passionate and being enthusiastic about teaching.”

Teachers approach trusting their students differently and for Miller he says he starts off with trusting his students and caring and being his true self because it puts the idea that in his environment everyone trusts each other.

He adds, “The best thing about this class is also one of the negative parts and it’s seeing students fall short and then realize that they could have improved because we learn from our mistakes and that’s a life lesson I try to imply in the classroom.”

Kenneth Cox is the Auto Shop teacher on campus and is responsible for the students who perform maintenance on the cars in the shop. His students are required to learn how to perform on a basic car and learn how to manage different parts responsibly.

Cox says, “It is scary trusting students because anytime we work on someone’s car that will be driven, I am trying to trust my kids to do a good job and for the car to leave here safe.”

There are different levels of auto and Cox says that in his intro classes he does not let any student work on a vehicle that will be driven because he has to build up the trust in them that they have learned all of the dangers and know how to navigate them.

Cox adds, “The best thing about this class is seeing the students that continue on into the higher levels and that enjoy it and have fun. I mean that is what I come for work for is seeing my students happy with what they are doing.”

Elisa Bardonnex is one of the Dance teachers at Redwood and has been teaching dance for 22 years. Her course requires students to follow instructions correctly and memorize the choreography provided.

She says, “The other dance teacher, Mrs. Lapp, and I coordinate so that our intro and intermediate classes are doing the same things, but other than that our classes are kinda free to do what we want.”

Bardonnex went from being an Elementary school teacher to a Dance teacher and she says that she loves not having a structure because she is able to let the creativity flow and is able to create different things every year.

She adds, “There aren’t really any cons that come from hands-on teaching and I feel like it is more fun and the students get more involved and it is really exciting to see that.”

As the world fades into technology based learning and following a curriculum, the classes that are still able to incorporate first-hand experiences stick out.

Teachers learning to trust their students, and allowing them to have direct experiences, where they are able to get a grasp for what they truly love and enjoy.

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