Technology Education

Instructional Philosophy:

It is my belief that eduction should be exciting, entertaining, and challenging.  I do my best to enhance my classes using auditory, visual, and kinesthetic(hand-on) experiences.  Also, I structure my classes around an interdisciplinary approach that builds upon and reinforces content covered in several other classes such as Language Arts, Science, and Mathematics.  For instance, students in my classes might have to calculate the horsepower of their CO2 dragsters, evaluate how friction and rotational inertia will affect a mousetrap car, or research and write a paper about a career that they are interested in.  

Courses: 

The following are classes currently offered at Springfield High School.  Click on the links for each class to see descriptions of each class.

Technology Systems I

Technology Systems II

Elements of Construction I

Elements of Construction II

Energy, Power, and Transportation

Electronics I

Technical Drawing I

Dragster Project:

The CO₂ dragster project is an annual project where students get to use their creativity and skills to create a unique looking car that will compete against their classmates.  Each year the top cars from each class face off in what is known as our Annual May Madness Dragster Tournament.  The following is a video that was created to advertise the upcoming 2011 tournament.

2011 Summit County Engineer Bridge Building Contest

Congratulations to Erik Etapa, Kenny Stevenson, and Zack Halman for getting 9th place at this years competition!  Both groups did very well in representing Springfield High School and made Spartan Nation proud.  For more information about the competition and to see results from past years click here.  

Kenny Stevenson, Erik Etapa, and Zack Halman 

Anthony Lapidakis, Cherokee Carothers, and David Foster

Grading Policy:

     All final grades in the Tech. Ed. classes are cumulative scores of all the work that is accomplished by your student(s) throughout the semester.  The first and second quarter grades reflect work done in each respective quarter, and the final grade is determined by adding all points earned throughout the semester and dividing that score by all the points that are possible in that semester.  Some of the classes also have a semester exam that accounts for approximately 20% of the final grade. 

     Some projects may require your student to bring in materials from home.  I understand that this may be very difficult for some students, and I am willing to provide students with materials in such cases.  However, it is the student’s responsibility to seek these materials from me prior to the materials due date.  Failure to do so may have a negative impact on a student’s grade. 

     I will make an effort to keep grades posted online through Progress Book.  My goal is to update every class at least every two weeks.  You can access Progress Book through the district website by clicking on the Students and Parents link and following the Online Gradebook Parent Access link.  A user name and password should have been sent to you in the mail.  If you have not received this information you can email Dustin Boswell at sp_boswell@springfieldspartans.org to receive your user name and password. 

Class Fees:

     All Tech. Ed. classes do have a fee to cover materials and lab costs.  The fee ranges from $5 to $20 depending on the class.  All fees are to be paid in the high school office, not to Mr. Geiss.