DHS prepares for modern-day home ec classes

May 26—DANVILLE — It's been 20 years since home economics, or family and consumer sciences, classes have been taught at Danville High School, when the last teacher retired.

While some home ec concepts and aspects are in other courses, family and food sciences classes will be back starting this fall with two new teachers, Marissa Smith and Ashley Engbretson. They were hired this month by the Danville District 118 school board.

Construction continues on the new food science lab at DHS in preparation for the classes starting in August.

Anderson Electric electricians worked in the lab, one of the original home ec rooms, where there will be four kitchen areas, a big refrigerator and classroom space.

Dan Hile, DHS department chairman for career and technical education which includes business, computers, industrial technology and consumer sciences, said there will be an introductory-level class, Intro to Family and Food Science, to start out in August.

Intro to Family and Food Science will focus on four areas: nutrition, sanitation and wellness; food resources and preparation; family dynamics and development; and visual and apparel merchandising and hospitality foundations.

There also will be more intermediate and advanced classes, including Culinary 1 and Child Development.

The school board a year and a half ago approved bringing family and consumer sciences back. It's been hard to find teachers, Hile said, but they kept at it and found two teachers.

Hile said seniors-to-be have been patient, and they can still take part in the new programs.

DHS has about 75 students interested in the introductory class.

"It's real-life secondary skills," Hile said about nutrition, wellness, foods, child and family development, visual marketing, textiles and sewing.

"We're excited about what that's going to bring," Hile added.

Hile said these and other courses he oversees, such as GeoCON (hybrid geometry and construction trades double-block course) and involving welding and students working toward OSHA and other certifications, are important for students to find out if they are interested in certain career paths.

He calls this postsecondary connectedness.

John Greenhalgh, one of the DHS industrial tech teachers, was working with students last week in the wood shop, with only a couple weeks of the 2021-2022 school year left. He teaches GeoCON and intermediate and advanced building trades.

"One of the things we teach, post-secondary; we talk about all sorts of life after high school. Safety is the first and foremost facet," Hile said.

Greenhalgh said, "I told my students, two days ago when we started this module, that harnesses are going to become ubiquitous in the next decade. That whatever you do you're going to find yourself in a harness if you're above six feet."

The students were exposed to being suited up, about six inches off the ground, to feel how a harness feels.

"They're not certified, but they are exposed," Greenhalgh said. "And that's important, because any one of these young people could end up with a summer job that puts them in a harness or have a future that's in a harness."

Greenhalgh said the thing he's trying to get away from is not teaching his students what he learned in wood shop 20 years ago; but teaching them what they need to know for the future, 21st century version of these basic tools and how they're applied across different areas.

Greenhalgh said this can be from a plane to a computer numerically controlled carving and laser.

In GeoCON, students make garden sheds. A recent one was a combined project with the DHS Future Problem Solvers group that was delivered to Cannon Place at the Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System.

Hile said they're lucky they have the space for these projects at DHS.

As Greenhalgh talked about his classes last week, a giant Jenga set was dropped back off after being painted by the DHS art department. It was made out of scrap wood. The sets are raffled or given to another classroom.

Hile said the CTE classes expose students to careers, trades, employability skills, tools, assembly and building things, computer classes, basic cyber safety, multi-media broadcasting, certifications and credentials, such as with Microsoft and Adobe.

It's important to offer these courses to students for them to see a variety of potential future job opportunities, and access to things they are going to see in life, Hile said.

Hile, a lifelong accounting teacher and also a football coach at DHS, has been the CTE department chairman for almost 10 years. He's been with D118 for 22 years.

He and the other teachers are proud of their students.

One student, Chloe Ballard, completed her 10-hour OSHA training.

DHS Senior Nathanial Mahoy has a job upon graduation at Watchfire signs.

One student last week, Garrett Shuter, was finishing up a vase he started for a Mother's Day project.

He talked about using different metal pieces, measuring them and welding down the lines.

"And hopefully it holds water," he said, or he'll have to fix it.

Some students also have been making t-shirts.

"One of the other things that we're trying to work on is utilizing the skills and then creating entrepreneurship opportunities ...," Hile said.

They started a screen-printing operation. Right now, it's in-house, as the students have been printing Class of 2022 senior shirts, National Honor Society and other shirts. It's kind of like a club and they're trying to decide about using the machines and incorporating it into a class. DHS received a grant for the equipment.

Other construction projects expected to be completed this summer will be awaiting students and staff in the fall, such as with ventilation in the welding area. Hile said when they come back in the fall, it will be enclosed properly, and HVAC will be improved.

"That's exciting for us," he said.