The future looks bright for Nadilynn Crison who, while only a junior, is working her way toward a future in woodwork.

“I originally chose to take woodshop because my grandfather excelled in woodshop when he was in high school, according to my grandmother. I decided to follow in his footsteps and also take it,” said Crison. “My grandfather was a jewelry maker and my dad is a skilled craftsman in his work and at home, so I’ve always been a crafty person. I wanted to take it to the next level with wood projects, and came into the class with my own tools, gloves, and glasses.

Her first project was a small cabinet, and she caught on quickly. “I transferred into the woodshop class late, and ended up giving my group members correct advice when I was barely into it,” Crison said. “Mr. Martin saw a lot of potential in me and ended up teaching me how to do all of the basics and cleared me to use all the machinery on my own. I also incorporated my other talents, like sewing, and ended up making an upholstered bench/chest. After this, I became extremely inspired and took it upon myself to ask questions and make projects on my own.”

Crison is very talented. She has learned how to use every machine in the shop, and has used them all for her projects. “I found out this year on a field trip that I can to do this as my career because of how much love I have for building and how much drive I had,” she said.

While Woods is considered part of the trades, it does require a lot of calculations.” Math obviously has a lot to do with carpentry, and I’m lucky enough to be a grade level above the rest in my grade in math, so honestly, it just came easy to me,” Crison said. “But that doesn’t mean someone who isn’t good at calculations can’t pursue this, it just means that they have to put a little bit more effort in.”

As the first girl team leader for the Habitat for Humanity program provided for third year woodshop students, Crison is also following in the footsteps of her boyfriend who was a team leader last year. The two share the same career goals as me, “so it’s very important to have support and people who believe in you,” she said.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, the volunteers go out to a workshop in Cordelia for additional training in carpentry. They’ve helped build a shed, made many items to be sold in the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store thrift store, and are working on building an office. “After the contracting is done, we will be going out to a construction site to help work on a six-bedroom, three-bath house for veterans in Rio Vista,” said Crison.

Woods is only the beginning for this driven student. “I plan on taking two periods of welding next year so I can be a double CTE program graduate and attend the trades apprenticeship in Cordelia. Following that, I plan on becoming a journeyman and furthering my career by possibly becoming a trade representative,” she said. “I also really want to encourage other girls to become interested in the trades. It’s a male-dominated career, and I’ve faced my fair share of sexist men who don’t believe I can do or limit what tasks I can carry out, and I really want to be someone who will play a huge role in changing that. I want everyone to be treated equally in the trades, and to break the stigma that if you don’t go to college, you’ll be ostracized. And even if I don’t make it that far, I know I will be doing what I love.”