Private Skills for a Public Purpose Spotlight

Every C block, saws grind and sanders whir in a woodshop class centered on Lick-Wilmerding High School’s Public Purpose Program. The students collaborate on life-size projects, fulfilling the needs of local nonprofit organizations. The class, an elective, is called “Private Skills for a Public Purpose,” or “PSPP” for short.

Youssou Fall is in his 14th year teaching the class. For two years, Fall co-taught the class with David Clifford until two years before Clifford left LWHS. Over the years, Fall has built up a network of schools and organizations who  he  is  regularly  in  touch  with  to find projects for his students to work on.

Parents and students also play a key role in finding projects to be completed. “A lot of parents run after-school programs or are connected with some organization that has some needs. It’s word of mouth because if you work with one school, the teacher there might mention something (about a project) and another teacher might say, ‘oh, man, I would love to have that,’” Fall said. “It’s me connecting with outside organizations, it’s students, it’s parents.”

Once the class has connected with an organization, they have a constant line of communication to fulfill the organization’s needs. Through multiple designs and prototypes, the project is finalized — ultimately the organization has the say on which version is used.

Lilly Varon ’23 described the process of beginning a project for an outside organization. “We get a description and a few emails that were sent between Mr. Fall and the organization. We meet with a person from the organization and spend a class after designing on a whiteboard. Then we make a prototype. We’re in contact with the person the entire time,” she said.

“Students and I are just basically in service to whomever we’re working with, they’re the ones who decide what they want,” Fall said. Students in the class will ideate several designs and options to present to the organizations. “Students have some input — different designs, colors and choices, but it’s the organization that makes the final decision,” Fall said.

David Mann ’23 is taking PSPP for a second time this semester. “It’s a pretty cool opportunity to be able to build something for someone else who could actually get a lot of use out of it,” he said. “I also think that by being able to work in a group, you’re able to accomplish a lot more.”

Projects this year have been a classroom divider and podcast set “The first project was working with George Moscone Elementary School. Our group made a divider for their classroom. The teacher wanted to be able to split the classroom into two parts when she has tests, so we made a wooden divider with wheels and we brought paints so the kids could put their handprints on them,” Mann said. “It was really fun.”

PSPP is the only shops class that focuses directly on the community needs, while the capstone of others is usually an individual project. “I totally think it should become a required class. In most of the shop classes the incentive is you’re making stuff for yourself. But working with a client and having real work requirements is pretty cool,” Varon said.

On the other hand, Fall appreciates the attitude students bring to PSPP as a result of it being an elective class. “If it’s an elective, ninety percent of the time students will know what they’re getting into. Some of them will not, but at least they understand that this was not forced upon them. It was their own choice,” he said.

Fall believes everyone should use the technical skills they learn at LWHS to benefit others. “It should be all of us doing community service for the greater good. I honestly foresee my classes going there in the future, where nobody takes anything personal home. Anything you make is for someone else,” Fall said.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Odin Thien-An Marin

Odin is excited to continue writing for the Paper Tiger as a senior. Outside of school, he is a captain of the Varsity Baseball team and a member San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, and DJs during his free time. He is the photo editor this year.

Latest posts by Odin Thien-An Marin (see all)