One thing that makes Andale High School so special is the huge variety of classes they offer for students to expand and grow in their knowledge. One of these classes is CAM (computer aided design) where students first start in a classroom and take a bunch of safety quizzes over the machines in the shop. Then they move on to designing on computers. Last they take those designs and load them onto a hard drive and put them into the CNC plasma cutter or wood cutter.

Andale is very lucky to have a CNC plasma cutter and a CNC wood mill allowing students to do projects out of wood and metal. CNC machines are moved by a series of gears and belts controlled by a machine control unit to make the most precise cuts. Wood CNC machines could require different bits throughout the process depending on how it was designed in the computer software. The machine should stop when a bit needs changed but will need a human to change it.

I myself have done a couple of projects in the CNC machine. I have made a steel cutout of a bass jumping out of water since I really like fishing and I thought it would look good on our new patio. But my best sign I made in my opinion is my Unrein bar and grill sign also for the patio.

In all these machines and skills are very helpful for any student to learn. From learning to use the grinder to clean up any melted metal on the sign to using a paint booth and learning the correct way to spray paint a sign. These are all skills some students will need at some point in the future, if its for their work or if its just stuff they have to do around the house.