GLASGOW – In a program he almost single-handedly brought to Glasgow High School, engineering teacher JR Dakin imparts skills and knowledge students could put to use in a range of engineering careers.

Roughly a decade ago, Dakin oversaw the school’s industrial arts program in which students could learn skills like woodworking, metalworking and computer-aided drafting, and he decided courses that focused more on technological know-how and challenging students were needed.

“I could tell that the interest in that area was fading and so I was looking for a curriculum that would be more challenging to the students, that would be more career-oriented,” he said.

With that goal in mind, Dakin approached Glasgow Independent Schools’ board of education in 2006 to ask to start a Project Lead the Way program at the high school, a request the board granted.

Project Lead the Way is a nonprofit organization that develops engineering curricula for schools, according to the group’s website.

The engineering classes Dakin teaches now are something of an extension of the now-defunct industrial arts classes, though they’re focused more on the inner workings of the technologies they use, he said.

“The difference here is … in the engineering courses we do more design work,” he said. “In the industrial arts courses, they were more hands-on probably, but the engineering side goes more into the design and how things are made, how they do what they’re supposed to do.”

On Tuesday, roughly 20 students gathered in a computer lab with an attached workshop filled with engineering equipment, including a programmable robotic arm and a laser engraver.

Senior Peyton Mills is in a one-man class called Engineering Design and Development that has recently included using the robotic arm.

Mills has been working on programming movements for the robotic arm, getting it to grab small blocks and move them to various spots, learning how to use the control software all the while. “I just go by these booklets and basically it has the program on there, but you have to sort of play with it and get used to all the movements,” he said.

Mills started the class studying electricity, programming and pneumatics, a branch of engineering that uses pressurized air, largely on his own, with occasional help from Dakin.

“All this ties in (to) the robot,” Dakin said. “It’s got pneumatics, it’s got programming, it’s got everything.”

Spencer Applegate, a junior who isn’t currently taking an engineering class because he couldn’t fit one in his schedule this year, still works with Dakin regularly to hone his skills with engineering programs.

Dakin noticed Applegate’s skills in working with a 3D modeling program that can be used to design objects that can be made with a 3D printer and asked him to build replicas of items teachers have a tendency to lose, Applegate said.

Since then, Applegate has “reverse-engineered” and printed calculator battery covers and the part of a tape dispenser that holds up the roll of tape for teachers that have lost them.

Applegate said he originally signed up for an engineering course because he thought it sounded interesting and found something he has a knack for. “To be honest, it’s an easy class for me and it’s pretty interesting,” he said.

In addition to teaching classes with material Project Lead the Way lays out, Dakin is also a PLTW Civil Engineering and Architecture Master Teacher, meaning he spends several weeks each summer instructing other teachers in how to conduct PLTW classes.

In Dakin’s classes, students can get instruction in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering.

“Those are pretty much the basis of all the branches of engineering so if they get a pretty good foundation in civil, mechanical and electrical, they’re pretty solid,” he said.

Dakin has been recognized for his work in his engineering classes, becoming the first recipient of PLTW’s Program of Excellence Award in Kentucky, according to a news release from Glasgow High School.

Dakin, who hung a banner declaring his program a Program of Excellence in the hallway outside his classroom, said he’s thrilled PLTW has commended his efforts. “I was really glad to see that the state of Kentucky recognized the accomplishments of what’s going on at Glasgow High School,” he said.

– Follow reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com.