Laser system brings new opportunities to career center

NEW CUMBERLAND - Smartboards, Netbooks, and now laser systems: these are some of the items that have brought Hancock County into what the board of education terms 21st century learning.

George Danford, director of the John D. Rockefeller IV Career Center, addressed the school board this week about the recently acquired system .

Danford stated that about two years ago, Bill Neil of Epilog Laser visited the career center to demonstrate the abilities of the laser system.

Danford, career center teacher Steve Shannon, and two students were present for the demonstration.

"When (the students) saw the capabilities of the laser and what it could do, immediately they started coming up with creative things that they could do (with it)," Danford said.

After seeing the students' reactions, Danford said "it became a mission" to acquire one of the laser systems for the career center.

Danford applied for a program modernization grant from the West Virginia Department of Education with the goal of using the laser to develop an entrepreneurship program. The purpose of the program, Danford said, is to teach career center students about business and show them how to develop a business.

The grant provides the career center $100,000 per year for three years.

Danford stated that the career center received approximately $22,000 in July. School superintendent Suzan Smith stated Monday that she had just signed for the second part of the first year's $100,000.

"The nice thing about the laser, I think, (is that) you're actually not limited with it," Danford said. "You can do just pretty much anything you can think of as far as cutting, or etching, and marking on different types of materials."

Shannon and Oak Glen High School teacher Debby Churella, who collaborated on a co-curricular project centered around the laser, were at the board meeting to discuss the system in more detail.

Churella stated her Algebra II and Pre-Calculus classes used the laser to do a wood veneer reflection project.

"We cut out the pieces, and then we did different colors of wood veneer so that they showed the designs," Churella said.

Churella said she applied the mathematical applications for the project while Shannon input the designs using computer software.

"The hardest part of this (project) was the veneers; any material you put into this laser, you have to kind of figure out the settings that it's going to take," Shannon said.

The process, Shannon said, takes as many as 20 attempts to find the perfect setting, power, cut type, and speed.

"All the laser is, is a printer," Shannon said. "We used CorelDRAW software, and then sent it to the laser, and then it does all the work. It's not any different from your inkjet printer."

Shannon stated that one of the first things his students learn is how to run the laser.

"They pick it up really quick," Shannon said. "They pick up the process of the designs and how to do things, and they come up with some pretty good ideas on their own."

The trio brought several examples of the co-curricular project to the board meeting, including a personalized etched drinking glass for each board member.

Danford said the laser can etch or cut through a wide variety of materials with precision, from something as delicate as notebook paper to a piece of glass.

"I think we've just kind of hit the tip of what we're capable of doing," Danford said.

One student used the laser to etch his name into his yearbook, while other students have etched unique designs into their cell phones and laptops.

The laser works in the entrepreneurship program because its abilities can become a business, Danford said.

"There is a former teacher of Hancock County; she and her husband purchased one of these and they're out running a business with this right now," Danford said.

Danford said the laser is just another example of 21st century technology, and that in having the equipment, the career center can show students what technology is available, and what they can do with that technology.

"Once you have it, you just don't look at anything the same," Shannon said.