By SYDNEY KENT
“I thought to myself, there is no way I can ever pull this off.”
Doug Hunt, the design and technology teacher at Southern Wells Junior/Senior High School, laughed as he recounted his journey to becoming “the teacher that builds guitars” in Indiana.
Hunt graduated from Ball State in 1998 with a degree in technology education. However, his love of learning and music began much earlier.
“My personal journey with music and the guitar began at an early age. I was perhaps 4 or 5 when I first heard my dad play a little thing on the guitar,” Hunt recalled. “As a teenager, I discovered the very long tradition of blues music and its migration from the Mississippi River Delta along with its players. Despite the distances of time, space, and ethnicity, I identified with the emotion that is conveyed by blues music.”
Hunt’s passion for music led him to be awarded a Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship in 2009, a program for personal renewal that Indiana educators have an opportunity to win one time. With that $8,000 fellowship, Hunt was able to attend a guitar-building workshop at Purdue University, build a guitar of his own, and spend one week in Chicago playing blues at open mic nights. Hunt said this experience led him to reluctantly consider teaching with guitars.
“During that week-long guitar build, I was a little dismissive when Dr. Mark French at Purdue asked me how I might consider using guitars in the classroom,” Hunt said. “Later on, when some of the students discovered I was building a guitar, they wanted in on the action too.
“I wasn’t sure it was appropriate, and I wondered if bringing it to work would, in some way, cause me to lose my spark or passion. I’m happy to report that’s not the case. In a sense, giving it away has actually given me more than keeping it to myself.”
Hunt said it was no small miracle to learn of a second Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship award, this time for $25,000. This funding gave students access to the tools needed to create guitars.
“The kids’ interest coalesced around getting the second grant. I wrote a proposal to buy the tools and machines for here at school,” Hunt explained. “They’re very upfront that they don’t fund classroom projects. I figured I would ask them for it anyways — and they funded it.”
While the Lilly Fellowship was instrumental in bringing guitars to the classroom, Hunt said the funding was one piece of a larger ensemble.
“There were some folks at Purdue that same week running a National Science Foundation grant that needed high school partners,” Hunt said. “I participated in writing the first grant proposal, and over time that ultimately became what we call the STEM Guitar Project. It is a collection of 3 NSF grants we were given back to back, which is like lightning striking three times in the same place.”
Hunt explained that as the curriculum has changed and the state has implemented a focus on career and technical education, he has used guitar making as the vehicle to meet their goals. This allowed the school to gain funding and give access to avenues of growth for students across the country.
The design and technology classroom has two parts. One section is a standard classroom with computers, 3D printers, and a laser machine. The larger section, referred to as “the lab,” is a large shop-style space that contains machines and equipment. Hunt explained the space will soon receive renovations due to a $200,000 grant Southern Wells was recently awarded from the Don Wood Foundation.
“In terms of moving forward, I am excited about what the future holds. This is going to be huge,” Hunt said. “Some of our machines are pushing 60 years old. Partly, we’re going to get a cosmetic face-lift. Most importantly, we’re going to receive upgraded and new machines. It will effectively increase efficiency and productivity.”
“I feel very fortunate to be here, I am glad that I’m here,” Hunt said with a smile in his voice. “Being able to come and work in a place like this is a real boost.”
Through the STEM guitar project, which is implemented in 48 states, Canada, Colombia, and American Samoa, Hunt has impacted thousands of people. He has contributed to work on a guitar displayed at the first-ever Maker Faire hosted by the president, helped train hundreds of educators, reached over 25,000 students, and won numerous awards for his efforts.
With as many places as his passion has taken him, Hunt said he has recognized the quality of Southern Wells staff, students, and the facility — his classroom in particular.
sydney@news-banner.com
