An Ode to Mr. Roy

Sometimes a project I am working on makes me really happy not just because of what I am making, but because of someone it reminds me of.
Last week I had my tech students work on a woodworking project that in my mind I titled "An Ode to Mr. Roy".  Mr. Roy was my middle school shop teacher...you know back in the day when all kids took shop and home economics. Each year he would guide us through projects and teach us how to use different tools and create projects to take home to show off our skills to our parents.  Now for those lucky parents with multiple kids going through the program it meant multiples of each thing...but my mom never complained when I dragged home #3 in her collection of each creation.
So as I started to think about a project to help students feel comfortable on various tools, learn new skills, and take something home to show off their hard work the collection of note pad holders in my parents house came into my mind.  Back when Mr. Roy had us making these it was designed as a telephone message pad...a concept that the teenagers in the class found quite amusing...so these days they are just notepads. As the projects all were finished and laying out on the table not only was I proud of what the students had created, but they also made me smile to think about my school teacher that helped me enjoy building and creating things.