Professor Anthony Fortner, from the Woodworking Manufacturing Technology went from 80 students in 1992 to over 500 students in an eight-year period.

His production design team class is responsible for making the products of the offices in Cerritos College.

The energy and the excitement of the students made the program possible because they design the project, plan it, make the product and they also install it.

Prof. Fortner said, “This class has made over 600 tables for the Learning Resource Center.  The tables downstairs in the computer lab were all made here in this shop. The value of this class is immeasurable.”

He added, “The students get the training for the workforce in a classroom setting; the school saves money and gets better products, three times the quality they wouldn’t get if they would hire an outside contractor.”

The benefactors of this program, as stated by Fortner, are to make the products so the students will love the work they do and the people in the office will love their work environment. It makes happy workers that are more productive.

Pamela Chambers, a secretary in the Vice Presidents office said, “They did a great job with my desk, I love the design of it.”

With the publicity and the advertisement of letting other schools come to the campus and see what the woodshop has done, the school wouldn’t waste money on advertising.

Steven Berklite, the Instructional Dean of Technology commented on the program, “It is a great opportunity for the woodworking department, for the students to get a good hands on experience during class time on campus,” he also adds, “We can also take our capitol and spend it in our own environment, we get by far a higher quality of product in cabinetry and office renovations for a lot less money, than going to an outside contractor.” 

The General Obligation Bond (GOB) is funding the project and the local community approved it. It is going to be used for renovation of Cerritos College buildings.

This semester the woodshop is finished with 50 frames for the iFalcon posters and they are now installed on walls around the campus. They are also working on cabinetry for a lunchroom and a break room in the basement in the Humanities Department.