Southern Oregon Woodcrafters Guild team up with Mazama, Ferguson students for project

Feb. 3, 2206 / Ferguson Elementary School third-graders got a hands-on lesson in craftsmanship and community when they teamed up with Mazama High School advanced manufacturing students and the Southern Cascade Woodcrafters Guild.

Fifteen third graders visited the woodshop at Mazama after school on Feb. 2, and partnered with 15 high school students and six members of the Guild, including long-time member Thomas Spangler, who guided the students through the process of building birdhouses.

The Southern Cascade Woodcrafters Guild has been promoting woodworking since 1983, with a long history of community outreach. The guild has been associated with Migratory Bird Day for nearly 30 years, providing birdhouses and other woodworking projects to encourage engagement with both the craft and the local environment.

“Part of our responsibilities is the appropriation of woodworking,” Spangler said. “Anytime we get a chance to get people interested in any kind of woodworking project, and no better place to start it than the schools, this works pretty good.”

The Feb. 2 project built on this tradition. Students worked alongside high school mentors to measure, cut, pre-drill, and assemble the birdhouses, learning essential skills while contributing to a community-focused project. The wood used was donated, some of it left over from previous Migratory Bird Day events, ensuring that the materials were reused for educational purposes.

Sergio Cisneros, vice principal at Mazama High School, highlighted the educational value of the partnership: “We saw an opportunity to connect our high school CTE program with younger students in a meaningful way. The younger students worked directly with our high school students, gaining practical experience while also fostering collaboration and community engagement.”

The high school students volunteered to stay after school for the project, said Mike Edwards, Mazama’s manufacturing teacher. Parents of the third-grade students as well as younger siblings were invited to attend as well. Students were able to take home the birdhouses they constructed to provide shelter for local birds.

“It’s definitely been a fun opportunity for our students,” Edwards said.

The initiative reflects an ongoing effort to integrate learning with community partnerships, said Mazama Principal Jennifer Hawkins.

“This partnership is an example of Mazama’s commitment to our K-12 school community and our Klamath Basin community partners,” Hawkins said. “These experiences are essential for all of our students to learn varying skills for their futures.”