I loved 7th and 8th grade shop class! Of course I studied trigonometry in math class, but shop class was where it all came together. The first half of each ye

I loved 7th and 8th grade shop class! Of course I studied trigonometry in math class, but shop class was where it all came together. The first half of each year was mechanical drawing. Whoever got the top score in mechanical drawing got to be shop foreman in the second half when we used the power tools to build things. (The shop foreman directed who did what in the cleanup at the end of class.) Lucky me, I got to be shop foreman both years. I think it was because mechanical drawing taught me attention to detail. I learned to use the compass and straightedge, the eraser guard, and the French curve. https://www.jetpens.com/Staedtler-Mars-Erasing-Shield/pd/12315 https://www.jetpens.com/Staedtler-Mars-Erasing-Shield/pd/123... https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01JE0X7FQ https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01JE0X7FQ My only regret was that they split up the boys and girls for this hour: we went to Shop Class and the girls went to Home Economics where they learned to cook and sew. I bet there were a few girls who would have liked to learn mechanical drawing and working with power tools. And I'd enjoyed cooking for years, and had been the family sewing machine repairman from a very young age. It would have been nice if we could have all done both classes. Especially when I think about how I might have impressed the girls when I fixed their machines!