Woodshop rocks

Haley Hall, left, Patrick Johnson, center, and Kristeefah Schexnayder are enrolled in a guitar making class at Highlands Academy of Arts & Design.

Patrick Johnson is rocking in woodshop. He's designing and building electric guitars.

"I knew nothing about making guitars until I started taking this class," says the 17-year-old Johnson. "I would never have thought I would be making an electric guitar. It's a lot of hands-on stuff, not just reading in a book and trying to figure it out. It's fun."

Johnson is enrolled in Jack Fackrell's guitar making class at Highlands Academy of Arts & Design. Fackrell is actually the math chair, but has been a woodworker all his life. In fact, he was a general contractor for 25 years. He has three periods of math and then it's off to his popular guitar making class where nothing is prefabricated. The guitars are all hand-made.

Kristeefah Schexnayder loves it.

"I've tried ceramics, painting and art," says Schexnayder. "Woodshop was something I hadn't done yet. I heard it was fun, and I'm happy I'm here. I'm making a guitar that should be done soon. I can see this becoming a hobby of mine, because I already play musical instruments."

When Fackrell decided he wanted to teach the class, he took six students to Buljan Middle School in Roseville where building custom electric guitars is part of the woodshop curriculum. They learned everything they could there before they got the program going at Highlands last year. Each student pays a $150 shop fee. Fackrell says they're able to keep costs down because several guitar making programs in the area buy from the same wood and electronics supplier.

"The class is so popular here I even have teachers coming in after school to make guitars," says a smiling Fackrell. "It's like everybody wants to play the guitar."

Johnson was one of the students who went to Buljan Middle School with Fackrell. He's now a shop foreman.

"Being a foreman helps me with leadership skills I never had a chance to use before," he says. "I'm helping teach other students, but I don't know about building guitars for my career. I might do it throughout college, though, to help pay the bills."

Students say they appreciate the hands-on skills they learn in class, along with how to use the equipment. 

"You really have to be disciplined and stay focused," says Schexnayder. "You have to be able to listen to people and follow instructions. The class has definitely made me more cautious with the things I handle now."

Some of the students hope to sell their guitars when they're completed. Fackrell says they can sell them for $800 to $2,000.  

"I heard you can sell them and I needed the money so that's why I'm here," says Haley Hall. "But it's really fun and challenging; the sanding, carving designs into the wood, and everything else. You really have to stay focused."

Students are working to complete about 70 guitars by the end of the school year, and they're as proud as they can be of all their hard work. There's no word yet on whether they'll form their own band and really rock the woodshop.

You can contact johnfackrell@gmail.com for more information about the guitar class.

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