My name is Marcus McGuire and I have been selected as the new instructor for the woods program at Antigo High School in Antigo, WI. It is my mission to further the education of qualified students who will be prospective candidates to be employed in the woodworking or construction industry.

In Antigo we have an excellent facility geared toward the design and production of cabinetry using modern day machining technologies. Students have the opportunity to program an in-house CNC router utilizing current Mastercam software to machine any stock size from a small part to a sheet of plywood. Using the curriculum support from WoodLINKS USA, I put my students at the best possible learning advantage related to current industry trends. Their help and support influence my classroom curriculum and elevate it to new levels each week.

Relating to the construction industry we have a two tier course structure in which students take the prerequisite carpentry course to effectively build skill and gain knowledge to take construction. The carpentry course focuses on residential home construction dealing with everything from site layout, framing, electrical wiring and plumbing to finish carpentry. During the course the students apply current construction trends in multiple lab activities.

My construction course is a two-hour block in which the students construct a 28' x 48’, 1,344-square-foot three bedroom, two bathroom ranch style house. The house is built behind the shop no more than twenty steps out of the door on 6” x 6” posts.

The house features conventional 2” x 6” exterior wall framing, while applying tried and true energy efficient building techniques of which are 10” raised energy heel truss, energy efficient window and doors installed with top quality products and techniques that exceed all current electrical and plumbing codes.

About Antigo (WI) High School

Learn more about Antigo High School's house construction project.

About WoodLINKS USA

WoodLINKS USA is an industry driven, secondary and post-secondary woodworking partnership program, helping to build and maintain a strong, skilled workforce so that U.S. manufacturers can remain competitive in today’s challenging economic environment.

WoodLINKS USA helps provide the wood manufacturing industry with the necessary skilled workers to remain competitive at the entry and middle management levels. WoodLINKS USA helps woodworking industry businesses foster development and expansion of wood production education programs within local and regional secondary and post-secondary educational systems.