The G9 students have been learning about “Moku-Iku”, a coined term for “Wood Education”, where the students learn how to use leftover wood effectively, and feel the nature closer in their daily lives through working on a wood craft. The students used wood made of Ryukyu Pine, a native tree from Okinawa. They have been working on this for about a month, and today was their finishing day.
They were working on finishing their stools – adjusting and grinding.
“Noooo!!! Dust got in my eye!!”
The most difficult part was assembling the legs and the seat. They ground the adjoining ends of the legs to assure a snug fit. Even more difficult was, calculating the angle of each leg.
As they count the tree rings on their stools, “Wood Education” is gradually leaving its mark on young minds, I suppose?
“Mine’s 50.”
“No, dude, that’s 35. lol”
Cleaning is of course, a critical part of the process. Even small particles of wood (dust) on the floor inspires these students to design shapes / pictures on the floor, as they clean…especially when they are filled with an enhanced artistic sense.
Now that they’re done with cleaning, it’s their final step… coating. The teacher prepared a special oil, botanical and naturally extracted…which actually smelled funny. lol
It was a special oil they used, not only to enhance the pattern on the surface, but it kept a certain amount of moisture, and prevented stools from gathering dirt. Each stool is unique as it exhibits a different expression once the coating dries and settles down.
“If you take good care of it, it will certainly endure until your grandchildren are around!”
It was a good experience for students to feel the importance of taking care of their material belongings, through this opportunity of making it from scratch.
“These pieces of wood are what we make our things from.” Students learned how taking care of nature equates to taking care of their belongings.
