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Page 8 Electronic Edition: www .teachingtodaywi .com

Turning Wood Waste Into a Community Resource

By Tim Bartelt done wonders for us. Our community has
All photos courtesy of Kyle Schmidt made suggestions to help our woods program.
Human nature tells us to give of our- ‘Why don’t you sell the slabs and unusable
selves and to give back to our community. wood as firewood?’ Then another community
Your company vehicles probably drive by a member saw the firewood sheds we built. He
dozen places every day where people could liked that we used the slab wood as siding,
benefit from your giving. And chances are, and he ordered a shed. Now we have three
your kids or your neighbors’ kids are those shed orders for next year.”
people. We’re talking about the local high “The program keeps growing in ways we
schools – both vocational/technical schools or never saw coming,” Schmidt says. “Harley
general education. And what you’d be donat- Hotchkiss, from one of the tree companies,
ing are the logs you’d otherwise be disposing sent us a sawdust fi re-starter idea, and now
of anyway. our welding students are building a bottle jack
Kyle Schmidt is a tech-ed teacher, aka the press to compress the sawdust. The welding
“Fab Lab Director,” at Prescott High School students have built steel ramps for the logs
in Prescott, Wisconsin, and the innovator and a hook to hang a sawdust collection
behind a grassroots program that benefits the system off the end of our mill. I give 95%
students, the schools and local tree care com- of the credit to our students. The program is
panies. The program’s students mill donated blowing up because of them.”
logs into lumber and use it to create furniture Prescott High School students stand with wood they milled as part of their wood technology As the program continues year after year,
and other products in school woodworking program. This stack calculated out to be 1,566 board feet, totaling $12,791 in savings and fund the school begins to realize more revenue, and
shops. Schmidt even started his own tree care generation. the costs of equipment and future logs pay for
company, Home Yard & Tree Services in Prescott High School developed plans the instructor, and then the magic starts for the themselves. For Prescott High School, “In the
Hammond, Wisc., in part to provide wood for to build its own kiln at a cost of only $900. student. first year, we have saved more than $15,000
the program. Schmidt’s student built the kiln in two weeks, “The students fill their dehumidifier kiln that can be spent on other program improve-
Schmidt says the program takes a bit of and he’s willing to share the construction and do moisture testing on the lumber till the ments and other materials,” says Schmidt.
initial investment, but has been a win-win- plans for the kiln. Once completed, the stu- hardwood is below 12% and the softwood is The school was spending $10,000 to
win. The tree care company wins through a dents were drying logs almost immediately, below 9%. Usually, it’s 15 to 19 days in the $15,000 a year on lumber and does not have
charitable tax donation, as well as helping already saving money. Prescott High School kiln,” says Schmidt. Once the lumber hits to do that anymore due to the donations from
their local community, according to Schmidt. realized a payback on their investment within those dryness values, the projects can be local tree companies, according to Schmidt.
The school wins by reduced funding for one year. Other schools may take two years, started.
these programs and generating revenue with says Schmidt. “We build community projects for parks Cutting costs and making money
the processed lumber. And the students win and trail systems, and have built $5,000 to Data from real schools undertaking this
by learning real-world job skills and getting In class $6,000 worth of cabinets for under $1,500 for program is an excellent carrot to entice your
exposure to career opportunities in forestry, You also need to show the school that departments in the school that have been waiting local school to get interested, according to
urban tree care and numerous other areas. the donations they’re receiving will eventu- almost a decade for cabinets,” says Schmidt. Schmidt. Here are some real-world figures
ally become something functional for the “Sometimes, the funding just isn’t there in school shared by Schmidt and what Prescott High
How does the program work? school and beyond. “This wood is used for School has realized for their tech-ed program
A main hurdle to success in this program any class that needs it in the entire district,” districts. So we solve the problem for them. In in the short duration of a curriculum like
is pitching the idea to your local school’s says Schmidt. the last five years, we’ve reached a difference of this. “We have done a $28,000 turnaround
administration and making sure the school The Wood Technology classes at Prescott nearly $150,000 in savings and funding genera- in just eight weeks of school, and can easily
is on board with the curriculum, as well self-design furniture, blueprint each indi- tion by doing just this. At Prescott High School, hit $60,000 in a year’s time,” he offers. For
as having an instructor who is behind the vidual piece and then calculate the board feet the students do it all.” participating tree companies that donate, the
program. Schmidt was the driving force at they will need to create it. Students calculate Talk about a functional program that pro- school will provide a receipt for the market
Prescott High School, and his program was the cost using the current market price of the vides real-world experience! Schmidt calls it value of the logs, depending on the type of
inspired by UWSP instructor Jared Schroeder. lumber. The student (or the student’s parents) “from forest to furniture.” wood and estimated board feet that can be
Schmidt had ideas about such a buys the lumber at half the market value. If a Growth drawn from the logs. Across many areas of
program, and when he attended a four-day student’s project costs $100, they would pay Schmidt goes on to detail some other the country, it can be difficult to get rid of
seminar on the math and science of milling only $50. The student mills the lumber with uses for the donations. “This program has cut logs. Often, a tree care company needs
and kiln-drying lumber led by Schroeder, to drive long distances to a compost site and
they got to talking. Schroeder provided his actually pay the site to dispose of logs. With
curriculum, and it put Schmidt’s program on this program, although there is no revenue up
the fast track to success. Donations began front, the tree company is getting a future tax
from Schmidt’s own tree care business, write-off and creating a bond with its local
and when other tree companies heard about community.
his program – and this outlet for upcycling
unused logs – they began making donations Workforce development
to the Prescott program as well. Even local Besides your tree care company
community members have donated logs from making a tax-deductible contribution to
trees cut on their properties. your local school, you’re also helping
For the program to be successful, you’ll develop the next generation of forestry
need to show the school how the investment industry employees, whether they end up in
in a small, reliable mill (cost between $10,000 forestry management, become an arborist or
and $15,000) can ultimately lead to reduced become employed in cabinetry or housing
costs and future savings for school programs.
Another need, to speed the process of drying A community member liked the firewood sheds the students built, with slab wood as siding, and
the raw logs, is a dehumidifying kiln. ordered one. Now they have three shed orders for next year, according to Kyle Schmidt. Continued on Page 10