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Paint Shop
Freshmen got a lot of practice using a new drywall room the carpenters built for them . The former practice room was gutted and is in the process of being put back together .
Freshmen had safety lessons for the use of ladders , scaffolding , and the manlift , and also learned all aspects of painting , from the use of different brushes to surface preparation .
Painters did a great deal of painting around campus . They painted the lobby of Rowan Hall , preparing it for the ceremony dedicating the building ’ s new name , and painted the ceiling of Shrigley library , and they painted the entire Longstreth apartment , including ceilings , walls , and trim .
In the Restall Sports Center , they painted the bleachers and the basketball lockers the new school blue ; they painted the living room of a campus residence ; at the power plant , which is an on-going project , they painted the new chem room ; and they painted the athletic field for football and soccer games , one lacrosse game , and intramurals .
Four students competed in SkillsUSA in the shop and were judged by three painters from different paint stores . Collin Henry 1W8 came in first , Stefan Langely 1W7 second , Jacob Lapp 1W8 third , Vinny Grider 1W8 fourth .
Field trips included the Philadelphia Shipyard , where they saw all stages of the ship building process , blasting and painting in progress , learned about the coatings technology used on ships , and saw how ships are joined .
Seniors visited the Local 21 Union Hall of the Allied Crafts and Painters Union in Northeast Philadelphia and freshmen visited three paint stores : Sherwin-Williamson in Woodlyn , Pittsburgh Paints in Springfield , and Benjamin Moore in Media .
Machine Shop
Machine tool technology seniors have been getting extra experience on CNC lathes thanks to the shop ’ s new Haas CNC lathe ST10 with a slant turn 10 inch . Students had been getting by with just two CNC lathes .
Carmen Martella , director of machine tool technology , said “ We have waited a long time for this addition to our shop and it is helping the seniors immensely in their CNC work . We are very happy to have it .”
The shop also got a new horizontal band saw which is helping out a lot .
Freshmen went from learning hand skills to learning machine skills . They also learned how to create geometry with a file , how to create cylindrical parts for their projects , and how to safely operate machine tools .
Juniors worked on their parallel
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clamp and tap wrench projects , and had four weeks of welding .
Seniors worked on their precision vise projects , learned CNC programming , and took turns serving as shop foreman .
All three classes are preparing for the fabrication of a skeleton clock spring semester , a clock in which all the parts are visible . The clock will be 42 inches long and 12 inches wide and will be made of brass , aluminum , and Teflont .
Masonry Shop
Freshmen worked on their basic block projects , starting with only a few blocks and working their way up to as many as 65 . Some advanced to laying brick .
Juniors worked on such brick projects as brick veneer , brick piers , and arches , and worked on block projects .
Seniors worked on brick piers and arches , brick veneer , and some worked on stone walls . They also completed many campus work orders , including putting in glass blocks in the rear room of the dining room .
Masons built the elevator shaft for Watson dorm , in the power plant they tiled the floor of the control room , and they put in concrete steps in the rear of Byers Hall .
Off campus projects included filling empty window openings with block at Media Archery and extending the rest room and storage locker at the Ridley Park Little League field .
All of the seniors and juniors were required to participate in the SkillsUSA competition in the shop and several freshmen volunteered to participate . Ronald Vann 1W7 came in first , Daniel Dickinson 1W7 second , and Jon Carnes 1W3 third .
Carpentry Shop
Carpenters got off to a fast start fall semester , building a storage bin that has the appearance of a house in the rear of the shop for building materials .
They also made several changes to make the shop space more efficient , such as reorganizing the lumber supply and tool room .
Freshmen worked on their hand projects and did two projects that are similar to hand projects using stationary shop power tools . The purpose of this was to show the students the difference between the two approaches and to see that sometimes hand tools are better .
Juniors got a great deal of framing experience while building seven mini houses in the shop . Each house contains floors , walls , and roofs .
Seniors worked on their stair projects , which were a little different this year . One is a traditional spiral staircase that leads to a storage area above the classroom . The other is an abstract staircase
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with a helical design and no center support .
In the back of the shop they removed the utility steps and replaced them with more decorative finished oak steps .
The shop completed numerous work orders and campus maintenance jobs , including installing several exterior dormitory doors and helping to install the new testing lab in the power plant , where they framed walls , put in a new floor , put in a new drop ceiling , installed several doors , and put in new steps .
They also helped out a little at the construction of Watson dormitory as laborers .
Using composite material , they rebuilt the deck of a campus residence and the benches outside of the Strine Learning Center , did several drywall patchwork projects on campus , built a sign post for the manger scene in the chapel , built two trophy cases for the Restall Sports Center , and refurbished a vacant campus residence .
Seven carpenters competed in the local SkillsUSA competition in the shop , constructing a scaled down house with two doors , two windows , and a hip roof . Ian Steveline 1W7 came in first , Scott Pearce 1W8 second , and Dayquawn Copeland 1W7 third .
Power Plant
The Power Plant Technology Program has been officially named the Lee Rowan School of Power Plant Technology in honor of Lee Rowan , Henry Rowan ’ s wife , who has offered generous support to the program . A sign proclaiming the new name will be installed this spring .
The fuels and water lab was completed and provides for the testing of different types of fuel for heating value and advanced testing of the boiler water . It contains tables , benches , and cabinets , as well as a new stairs , and three new doors . The project started last summer under the supervision of Tom Zane , power plant assistant , and was completed by carpentry students and painted by paint and coating technology students .
Students helped install 372 solar panels on the roof of the Restall Sports Center . The panels generate 92 kW of power , saving on Williamson ’ s fuel bills , and providing students with additional education .
The boiler room catwalks were completed , with stairs that connect all of the platforms , making it possible to walk to any section of the upper or lower level stack without climbing ladders .
A blow down and drain line were added to the kitchen boiler and masonry students put in a new tile floor in the control room .
The instrumentation group put in a
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digital and analog display on the control room screens . The deaerator level is now displayed along with the Omlar tank level and Shark meter readings .
Juniors helped with maintenance on the boiler room equipment , including boiler work and inspection , and getting the steam turbine ready for winter .
They cleaned the strainer on the steam lines throughout the campus as well as the fuel oil strainers in the boiler room .
Several valves were replaced and repair work was done on the condensate receiver tank and pumps at the pump house at the end of Cottage Row .
Freshmen began learning boiler operations and performed tasks on shift , including hourly readings , boiler chem tests , flue gas analysis , and cleaning details .
They worked hard to complete their third class qualifications and walked down all the systems in the power plant and tunnels , including steam , condensate / feedwater , natural gas , and fuel oil .
All students have been learning how to start the Emergency Standby Generator and seniors developed a video to teach students how to parallel this unit to the campus electrical grid .
Field trips included seniors visiting Liberty Electric Generating Station in Eddystone where they saw a combustion turbine disassembled and were told the parent company , Dynergy Inc ., hopes to use Williamson as its source for new operators .
Horticulture
During the summer , juniors took a field trip to the Pennsylvania Landscape Group in Harrisburg , a high end home landscaping company . Dave Foresman , a Horticulture PAC member and owner of Green Industry Consulting , arranged the trip and went with them .
The seniors worked summer internships in the field , some of which will lead to full-time employment .
Summer internships of the juniors included Lincoln Financial Field , home of the Philadelphia Eagles ; Camden Yards , home of the Baltimore Orioles ; Peoples Natural Gas Field , home the minor league baseball team , the Altoona Curve ; Marion Golf Club ; and Colonial Williamsburg .
Fall semester students did a significantly larger amount of campus care and upgrading than in the past . They did much planting , removed truck loads of debris , and cleaned up the area around the Auxiliary ’ s building .
Fall semester community service projects included Hedgerow Theater , where students cleared a wooded lot of brush and did some pruning , and two trips to Tyler Arboretum , where they pruned azaleas .
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