November 2025 Volume 7

INDUSTRY NEWS

MICHIGAN LOBBY DAY: MAKING A CASE FOR SHOP CLASS By Ellen Campbell

L egendary change agent, Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as saying, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get it.” This often forgotten truism defined my experience at this year’s Michigan Lobby Day. With only a quartet of FIA members, including Adam Arb, Mike Gill, Pete Campbell, and me, this second Michigan Lobby Day event turned out to be a surprisingly fruitful venture. FIA’s Laura Johnson, and Aaron Porter of MGS Consultants, guided our meetings as we presented a compelling case for reconnecting Michigan’s severed trades education pipeline. Michigan legislators from both sides of the isle listened to our pitch and wanted to know our “asks.” Our reply? Reinstate public middle school industrial arts classes and extend CTE programs to include 9th and 10th grade students. Additionally, amend CTE curriculum to comply with current industry standards, and include applied math and science courses in required middle school curriculum. Finally, amend teacher certification requirements to allow master craftsmen and subject matter experts in the skilled trades to teach in public schools. In reply, lawmakers requested that we provide them with language that can be used to craft a legislative proposal. After Lobby Day, I presented our case at the Michigan Manufacturers Association Workforce Solutions Summit in Grand Rapids. Currently I am working with Aaron Porter to prepare and present the language for a legislative proposal. Our Skilled Trades Education Inheritance In order to understand the

manufacturing, and home economics. This effectively brought the Sloyd method to public schools across the U.S., and we can appreciate the impact that these programs and legislation made in the development of our current CTE programs. The Sloyd System and Human Development

How do we gain the mental acuity to learn effectively? In a word: doing. Beneficial for all students, the Sloyd system of hands-on learning through handicrafts develops the seven areas of executive functioning critical for a healthy human brain: working memory, emotional regulation, attention, flexible thinking, planning, impulse control, and organization. “Strong executive

function skills are indispensable for academic achievement…as these abilities form the bedrock upon which successful learning is built.” iii This is key to understanding the value of shop class for all students, not only students who pursue the skilled trades. The Pipeline Starts with Industrial Arts So, what is shop class? It’s a

current workforce and education crises, let’s consider our skilled trades education inheritance in the U.S. and the “practical skills and innovative spirit that have long defined our nation.” i In the 1700s, apprenticeships defined skilled trades education, and remains the foundational method of preparing students for skilled trades careers to this day. In 1823, the Gardiner Lyceum, in Maine, provided lectures for farmers and tradesmen on the science

20th century term referring to the workshop where industrial arts classes are taught. “Industrial arts education is the study of the changes made by man in the forms of materials to increase their values, and of the problems of life related to these usages.” iv Foundational industrial arts courses are woodworking and metalworking. Historically, industrial arts classes taught in

the U.S. to middle school students (6th – 8th grades) served as the trigger to the skilled trades education pipeline. Students learned if they had an affinity for these skills, and they applied these skills to gain mastery of concepts taught in their math and science classes. Industrial arts courses served as motivation for students to advance in their studies and graduate from high school. Additionally, our skilled trades education inheritance includes a national program of merit-based skilled trades competitions and leadership training that continues to develop the next generation of skilled trades leaders. SkillsUSA, established in 1965, “fosters technical excellence, leadership, and a spirit of service…and is instrumental in working to close the skills gap and strengthen America’s workforce.” v Through this path of valuable programs, students learn about careers in skilled trades and identify opportunities for further training.

behind agriculture and mechanics. The industrial revolution inspired the Manual Training Movement of the late 1800s. The first manual training school, founded in St. Louis in 1880, was a preparatory school aimed at education that balanced theoretical concepts with practical application. Soon after, the Sloyd system emerged from Sweeden and influenced American education. Teaching young students handcraft skills, “the Sloyd system aimed to instill a love for work and a respect for honest labor. It proposed to develop self-reliance, independence, and habit of order, exactness, and neatness…and cultivate manual dexterity.” ii North Bennet St. School, in Boston, employed the Sloyd method in 1888 and remains a leader in woodworking instruction today. In 1917, the Smith-Hughes Act provided federal funding for vocational education in the areas of agriculture, skilled trades,

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2025 42