When BCD Arts teacher Laura Piasecki was asked if she would teach Woodshop this year to students in grades 4-9, she applied to the Professional Development Fund to go back-to-school to hone her carpentry skills. Laura took a one-week “Carpentry for Women” class this summer at the Heartwood School in Washington, MA.  MyBCD sat down with her to learn more about this professional development opportunity and to find out what’s on her tool belt:

“The class was life-changing. There were women of all different ages and from all over the world in this class with me, and we were all there for different reasons. Growing up, no one took the time to teach [women] about woodworking so this was a very empowering experience.

The class focused on two areas – woodworking and construction – and included an introduction to power tools and the fundamentals of construction. We had an opportunity to use a wide range of power tools to see how they worked and what they could do, and as a team built a toolbox as a construction project. As an added bonus, the instructor came down to our wood shop in Clemons Hall and walked me through our equipment and showed me how everything worked. She also gave me great ideas for projects we could work on. Being a part of the Heartwood community allows us to use them as an ongoing resource.

I use the skills I learned at the class everyday, both here at BCD and at home, from how to know what nail to use for a project to how to measure something correctly and what power tool to use. Taking this class is something I would recommend to any woman. It’s good, practical knowledge.”