At first glance, the woodshop appears empty – a lone couch, bare walls, a simple table saw.
But to OVS Upper Campus teacher Doug Colborn, it’s already full of life. 
“Just look around,” he says. “It’s day one and it already feels exciting.”
Continuing a long-standing tradition, Ojai Valley School has launched a woodshop program at the Upper Campus, allowing high school students to explore a discipline that until now had only been available to their counterparts at the Lower Campus.
Woodshop has been an integral part of the OVS since its inception. Founder Edward Yeomans believed that all students should learn to measure, build, and craft projects with their hands.
At the Lower Campus, woodshop has been a stable part of the curriculum since the school opened in 1911. Many current students at the Upper Campus fondly remember making stilts, looms, skateboards and more when they attended the Lower Campus.
“I started woodworking at Lower,” said junior Mariana Thacher, who is part of the inaugural group of woodshop students at Upper. “Ever since then I’ve loved being able to make something with my hands.”
Woodshop has finally made its way to the Upper Campus in the form of an H Block elective period. H Blocks are an important part of the OVS schedule because they give students the chance to explore their interests and take a break from the core academics.
“It’s important to find ways those ways to engage students in something slightly different than academics,” Head of Upper Campus Craig Floyd explained. “We need that within the schedule.”
When the art room moved at the start of the second semester to the newly finished studio space at the top of the hill, it left an open building, which the woodshop slotted right into.
Mr. Colborn is the perfect person to be leading the woodshop as it starts its journey on the Upper Campus. He truly loves woodworking.
To have teachers who are dedicated and excited about the topics they teach creates an environment where students will fall in love with the subject, and that is an environment that Mr. Colborn will strive to create in the new woodshop.
“I have a passion for it,” Mr. Colborn explained. “When I go home, I just go to my shop and make stuff… It’s really fun.”
While woodshop is starting as an H Block elective, it won’t be staying as one. Next year, it will be moving into the A through G rotation to become one of the for-credit art classes that students can choose from.
“I’m super excited,” Mr. Colborn said. “I just hope it’s a popular choice for fine arts students.”
Mr. Colborn isn’t the only one excited about the woodshop.
“I really wanted an H block where I could express myself, woodshop is perfect for that,” said Mariana, who is making hand-carved Mexican Day of the Dead animal sculptures as her first project to add to her family’s collection at home.
“We already have a few,” she explained about her first project. “But I just thought it would be a cool gift for my mom,”
This is just one example of the ideas that the students will make come to live in the woodshop.
Senior Hyunung Choi is another one of the students who decided to join the H Block. One of the stars of the baseball team, his first project is a bat. While leading the team this season, he plans on hitting some home runs with the bat he made himself.
“Having woodshop gives me a break in the day,” he said. “It makes me feel rejuvenated.”
Mr. Colborn agrees about the mental benefits of woodworking.
Sometimes it’s important to unplug from our technology centered world, and OVS gives students the time and space to do that. While woodworking may be a lost art for some, it is alive and well at the Upper Campus, and will soon become a staple of the curriculum.
“It’s a creative release,” Mr. Colbron said. “It’s spiritual. It’s therapeutic.”
The woodshop is seeking donations for tools, machinery or any other related items to help get the new Upper Campus program off the ground. Contact woodshop teacher Doug Colborn at dcolborn@ovs.org if you can help.
