Say hello to Mr. Sanchez! Photo courtesy of Woodshop and Special Education Teacher Joe Sanchez.

  San Luis Obispo High School Woodshop teacher Jed Bruington is retiring at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Former Paso Robles High School teacher Joseph Sanchez will be filling his role as Woodshop teacher. 

  Expressions wanted to take advantage of this exciting opportunity to welcome and learn about the new member of our staff. 

Expressions: How long have you been teaching, and what got you into teaching?

Woodshop Teacher Joseph Sanchez: I have been teaching for five years. For three years I was teaching special education then two years were in the building trades.

Expressions: How long have you been involved in woodworking and what made you decide to become specifically a woodshop teacher?

Sanchez: I grew up in a family that was involved in woodworking and the building trades. From the time I was in middle school my summer job would be working with my Dad or Grandpa on job sites. After high school it was a natural career path for me since it is what all of my family did. After about 12 years of working in the trades I wanted to do something else. I started plugging away as much as I could at Cuesta then eventually transferred to Cal Poly to become a teacher. I started out in special education with no thought of becoming a woodshop teacher. However, the district I am currently at approached me and asked if I would be interested in taking over the building trades program since the teacher was looking at retiring. I was excited for this opportunity because I could teach students a skilled trade that could offer them immediate job options.

Expressions: What made you decide to transfer to SLOHS?

Sanchez: There were a lot of factors that went into my decision to transfer to SLOHS. First, I was able to student teach at SLOHS and I really enjoyed being on the campus and interacting with the students. Mr. Bruington has built an amazing program and it is a rare opportunity to be able to take over a program like that. Then there were a bunch of personal reasons. I have two young kids that will eventually end up in SLCUSD and I want to work for a district that I believe in and where my kids will be going. Lastly, I live in Cayucos and working in SLO makes more sense for myself and family.

Expressions: What can we expect from you this following year?

Sanchez: This following year will definitely be a learning curve for me. Taking over a full woodshop and learning everything about it takes some time. Mr. Bruington has done an incredible job with the shop and the program. I plan to continue in his efforts. I definitely like to have fun with my students. Other than safety, that is my top priority. If my students are having fun in what they are doing there is a better chance they will be more receptive to learning the skills in the shop.

Expressions: What are you going to try and change/bring over to the new Wood classes for the following years?

Sanchez: As I said Mr. Bruington has done an amazing job with the program. Taking over a program like this there is a lot of learning that I will be doing as well. I will try to keep it pretty close to what Mr. Bruington has been doing and slowly implement different things to make it my own. A couple things that I do want to do with my students are competition based. Such as SkillsUSA and a Design Build Competition put on through CIEF. Lastly, I will look at possibly dual enrolling a few of the courses with Cuesta College.

  Sanchez will be around for the 2023-2024 SLOHS school year, so make sure to welcome the wonderful new addition to our staff!