Last scholastic year, with the help of Orcas Island Education Foundation, the Orcas High School introduced a new course in STEM Guitar Building.

The hands-on course gained an instant popularity with students as an approach that immediately applies the concepts of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – hence the name STEM.

“The students were immensely engaged in the course, and that made instructing it incredibly enjoyable,” said teacher Corey Wiscomb. “The students were into it, and some students that normally couldn’t wait to be out of a class were even asking me to come in before and after school. When you get that kind of energy from students you have to step up and challenge them even more in appropriate ways.”

One of the challenges that Wiscomb hopes to add to the course is in computer-aided-design through the purchase of a CNC Router, an electronic tool used to cut out the designs made via computer into various materials such as metal and wood. It’s at the cutting-edge (pun intended) of manufacturing guitars, combining functional and creative-artistic elements with the latest in technology.  Wiscomb hopes to use the CNC machine to create guitar bodies and neck parts.

The router doesn’t come cheap though. Final price tag is about $18,000. After instructing at a summer seminar this past July, Wiscomb received a $2,000 grant from a tech company that backs STEM classes. That combined with some Perkins grant funds, the school has just over $3,000 started toward the goal.

“Right now we are paying another school with a CNC Router to manufacture these parts for us – about $100 per student – and we take over from there doing the rest of the work by hand.”

If you are interested in donating, visit http://igg.me/at/ohscnc. The fundraiser is live until Oct. 15.