DIY Living is a class that teaches students important life skills that they might need to refer back to in the future.
“In this class I teach students how to patch holes in drywall, hang picture frames and shelves with different anchors types, how to hook up electrical switches and outlets, and furniture refurbishing,” DIY Living teacher Bryan Evans said. “Automotive basics like checking fluids, changing a tire, changing windshield wipers, jump starting a battery, testing your alternator, etc. Plumbing basics: guts of a toilet. interior design: designing a kitchen, paint prices, cabinet prices, countertop prices, figuring out appliance pricing.”
Evans has three DIY classes this semester and teaches around 55-60 students combined.
“I like this class because it is a lot of hands-on work and it’s much better than packets,” senior Fenix Cervantes said.
This class became available to take last year, when Evans first started working here.
“I believe students will use the knowledge learned in this class. Getting a professional to fix a basic problem in your house can be time consuming and expensive so if you know how to do it yourself, you can save your money or spend your money elsewhere where it’s needed,” Evans said.
Since this class teaches about possible home issues such as electricity problems, the beginning few weeks of the class are spent only on tool safety and safety procedures. This ensures that students do not get injured during the class and know what to do in case any issue were to occur.
“Even though we go through safety procedures and test off on everything, there are still accidents that happen. If a student were to get injured, I as the teacher would assess the situation and figure out if I can take care of it in the classroom with the first aid kit I have or if I need to send the student to the nurse,” Evans said.
The class gets a certain amount of money and they use this money to pay for the supplies that are needed.
“We get our supplies from our Tech Ed budget. Every year we place an order before school starts with everything that we need,” Evans said.
This class uses big wooden structures to practice on, which gives the students a very detailed and realistic learning experience.
“I think I will use a majority of the things I’ve learned in this class in the future,” senior Lydia Deffibaugh said. “This class is important for students to learn from, especially if they’re planning on being a homeowner.”
