The Lick-Wilmerding High School community welcomes Jeremy Kaplan as a new Design and Technology (D&T) and Technical Arts teacher. Kaplan moved to the Bay Area in 2010 and is incredibly excited to start a new chapter in his life teaching at LWHS. “My goal for my first year is to really get to know Lick, the students, the FacStaff and just get to know the culture of the school,” he said. Despite only having been at LWHS for a couple of months, he can already sense the strong community and spirit on campus.
Kaplan grew up in a rural town outside of New York City and did not have access to programs similar to the LWHS shops classes. His love for Tech Arts started at a young age when he would spend his free time in the garage, working on creative projects. This developed into more than just a hobby when he decided to study engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Kaplan then worked as an engineer for four years in New Orleans but wanted to dive into a more creative profession. He left New Orleans to study art at The University of Michigan where he was first exposed to woodworking, welding and other Tech Arts practices. It was there that he discovered this was what he wanted to do for a living. “I realized I wanted to be working with my hands, I wanted to be building stuff,” he said. Kaplan translated his engineering and art education to different professions such as teaching college students, working at the Crucible in Oakland, a nonprofit industrial arts school, and starting his own furniture company that harvested fallen, local trees to build elaborate home furniture.
Outside of teaching, Kaplan enjoys cooking, traveling and working on home projects. He is currently renovating his kitchen at home and built his cabinets, drywall and electrical components himself. Kaplan’s background and knowledge in engineering and previous work in construction can be applied to the D&T position perfectly. “I’ve done so much over the years working in art, construction and furniture, and I’ve built so many different things that I feel comfortable working in all kinds of different things — wood, metal, electrical stuff and all of that. That’s why Tech Arts is so perfect,” he said.
Kaplan hopes to inspire and teach students the important skills learned in D&T and possibly spark a passion for Tech Arts in the students at LWHS. “I’ve always thought it would be really fun to use all of this knowledge and skill that I have to help teach other young people to learn these skills,” he said.
