Musical inspiration: Guitar building program teaches STEM principles

Jayme Sileo/Boulder City Review After finishing their electric guitars, members of the summer STEM Guitar institute, front row, from left, Ryan Capps, Jeff Hinton, Bret Stewart, Jim Berry, Jake Trone, Andres Toledo, Kit Fuderich, Del Medenbach, Steve Brown, Mark French, George Mattie, Diane Goldstein; back row, from left, Jeremy Crawford, Mike Aikens, Chris Roser and Joshua Fisher, group posed in front of the Boulder City High School sign with their handmade guitars.

Jayme Sileo/Boulder City Review Bret Stewart, right, helps thread strings through the back of Kit Fuderich's guitar. Fuderich created the guitar's colorful design by painting it with a dipping technique taught in the STEM Guitar class for teachers held at Boulder City High School earlier this month.

Jayme Sileo/Boulder City Review Jake Trone, left, and Mike Aikens look at the head of Trone's guitar while adjusting the angle of the guitar's strings between the base of the neck and the tuning pegs during the week-long STEM Guitar session at Boulder City High School.

Jayme Sileo/Boulder City Review STEM Guitar summer institute instructor Mike Aikens, second from right, helps Jake Trone, far right, with his electric guitar while Steve Brown, center, guides teachers Kit Fuderich, second from left, and Joshua Fisher, far left, during the week-long session at Boulder City High School.

Jayme Sileo/Boulder City Review Mark French, seated in center, demonstrates how to set guitar strings at the proper height and measure the height of the strings.

STEM Guitar held a summer class recently for teachers from across the country so they could learn about the program and bring it to their students.

After debuting the class a year ago, Boulder City High School is joining the National Science Foundation program this year, which incorporates science, technology, engineering and math while students create electric guitars.

Teacher Joshua Fisher, who introduced the program to BCHS, arranged for teachers to attend the workshop, build their own guitars and experience the class firsthand. Educators from Washington to Pennsylvania, with more than 200 years of teaching experience combined, gathered in the auto shop to learn about making the musical instruments during the weeklong session.

“It reinvigorates the teachers,” said Steve Brown, a professor of industrial technology at the College of the Redwoods in California who taught the class. “It’s something new for the students and the school.”

Students start the project with bare wood and do all the sanding and electrical work with making the frets and placing the strings to complete the guitar. As the guitars are built, students complete 12 core STEM activities.

The institute in Boulder City is one of eight being taught this summer across the country.

Students and teachers alike come to participate, and this session included two Eagles who will help Fisher when he teaches the course on campus next year.

“I was getting so much out of it,” Fisher said. “I thought, Boulder City needs this.”

Sophomore Jake Trone said he planned to teach himself how to play on his handmade, personalized guitar, and sophomore Bret Stewart gave his guitar to his dad on Father’s Day.

Contact reporter Jayme Sileo at jsileo@bouldercityreview.com.