The Upper Columbia Academy (UCA) welcomed 162 guests from 13 schools for the biannual Tech Fair. Visitors had a chance to participate in workshops, many of which highlighted classes that UCA offers its students. These are woods, welding, auto mechanics, embroidery, stained glass and drafting. The Walla Walla University (WWU) technology department also participated by bringing their flight simulator, one of the main attractions. WWU also brought personnel to teach digital photography, graphic design and robotics.
The Tech Fair is designed to bring exposure to the one-of-a-kind industrial arts program that UCA offers its students. The visiting students, who were in grades seven to 10, each had the opportunity to participate in two workshops. In addition to the flight simulator, the woods class was popular among the participants. Students in the woods class designed and cut out CO2 cars in the woodshop then went to the gym to race the cars against one another on a track.
"We wanted to try something new that the kids would enjoy doing but also highlight the type of projects we are doing in our classes," says William Garrett, UCA's new industrial arts teacher. "Although we only scratched the surface in these workshops, we hope that the kids got an idea what type of electives our industrial arts department offers."
