Carbondale Reporter

The Southern Illinoisan recently issued the following announcement.

In this May 1, 2018 photo, Clayton Mellendorf,, a, senior at Dieterich High School, uses a torch to burn the wood on his bench project to create a rustic look under the instruction of teacher Kip Johnson during woodworking shop class at the school in Dietrich, Ill. Johnson is among a special class of teachers that, he says, is dwindling. "This is a craft that is disappearing," Johnson said. "Schools are going to lose this program soon if they are not careful. (Charles Mills /Effingham Daily News via AP)

 Kip Johnson is among a special class of teachers that, he says, is dwindling.

Johnson teaches a woodworking shop class at Dieterich High School.

"This is a craft that is disappearing," Johnson said. "Schools are going to lose this program soon if they are not careful."

Johnson said there aren't as many trained teachers who can teach the craft of cabinetmaking and woodworking. However, in Dieterich, the program remains popular.

"My first year I taught this I had three kids in class," Johnson said about when he began to teach the class 30 years ago. "And a few years back, I had to have two classes."

"There has been a year or two we had to turn kids away," Johnson added.

Johnson says the kids in his class don't fit one particular stereotype.

"I have kids in here that have been valedictorians, salutatorians, some of the best basketball players. Half these kids are on a ball team," he said.

Johnson plans to retire after next year.

"I'm going to miss this class," Johnson said. "Some of these kids I've had for a while."

Johnson has watched his students become skilled woodworkers.

"These are not kits. This stuff is handmade from a pile of lumber," Johnson said about his classes' projects.

Dieterich High School Senior Clayton Mellendorf has spent the last two years completing a bedroom suite for himself.

"It all had to be custom made. I had to make the plans myself," he said.

"Last year I built the headboard and foot board I wanted with two night stands," Mellendorf said. "This year, I was like, I might as well complete the set. So, I made a chest of drawers and the dresser."

The pieces of furniture he made for his bedroom suite include places to store guns.

"There is a gun that can go into everything he's made," Johnson said about Mellendorf's furniture design.

"I have a hunting background," Mellendorf added.

Mellendorf estimates he has invested nearly $1,800 into the project. Johnson believes Mellendorf could sell the bedroom set for between $3,000 and $5,000.

Original source can be found here.