Illuminated by the natural light coming in through the back of the room, the woodworking classroom at Littlefield High School smells of fresh wood and sawdust.
Propped against the working stations are the students’ wood cornhole board creations, each adorning various decorative flairs that display the students’ interests and personalities.
At the heart of the classroom is woodworking teacher Ray Vargas, a lifelong Littlefield resident with over 45 years of construction and plumbing experience under his belt.
After over a decade of nonexistence, the woodworking course is now available to Littlefield High School students under Ray Vargas’s instruction.
“I don’t know why I wasn’t asked 10 years earlier, but we didn’t have the class 10 years earlier,” Vargas said. “I told all the kids, ‘This is something I enjoy, and there’s nothing that you or anybody else could do to take me away from this period – so don’t even try it.’” Originally doing maintenance for the school, Vargas said he anticipated retiring by the end of the year. This remained his plan until Bryan Gregory, Littlefield ISD’s Chief Financial Officer, offered him the position.
“Mr. Gregory was the one who approached and said, ‘We need you in the shop,’” Vargas said.
With his immense background in woodwork, plumbing and electric work, Vargas set forth to teach the next set of future woodworkers.
The woodworking course came to fruition once the school renovations added the area where Vargas now teaches. Vargas and his students started working from the new space in January.
Before this, Vargas taught out of a regular classroom, instilling the basic understandings, safety measures and mathematics needed for woodworking.
Unbeknownst to him, the majority of Vargas’ students possessed no prior knowledge or understanding of these functions, particularly with fractions and other hands-on actions.
“I didn’t realize that there was so much needed learning on how to read a measuring tape,” Vargas laughed. “A lot of them told me, ‘Mr. Vargas, we don’t use measuring tapes!’” Fondly recounting his experience, Vargas said the skills he earned substantially benefited his livelihood, and passing these skills to his students gives them the liberty to build, create or complete home maintenance on their own.
“That’s what I tried to instill in these kids, it would save you a lot of money if you knew how to do it instead of it costing you an arm and a leg to hire anybody,” Vargas said.
Moreover, exposing his students to this type of work allows them to explore potential career options.
“If they learn anything at all, it’s to try to work with their hands and stuff,” Vargas said, “there are a lot of kids who just don’t realize what’s out there.”
This year, Vargas taught his students to construct and decorate their cornhole boards.
Vargas beamed about the hard work his students applied toward the construction process and the creative liberty students took when decorating them.
Intially, Vargas did not anticpate to decorate the boards until his students proposed the idea. He enjoyed witnessing each students’ passion and individuality in action.
“I tell them every piece of wood has its unique design,” Vargas said. “It depends on what you put on it – everything is just totally different.”
Some students burned their boards to create smoky effects while others painted them with sports logos or their favorite colors.
“I have the coolest job ever, because I can move around, I can see kids moving around and doing stuff,” Vargas said. “Students need this break from their other classes to come in here and mingle and take their frustrations out with the hammer, whatever it may be.”
From a young age, Vargas said he knew just how much he enjoyed working outside and using his hands.
Thus, this new teaching position allows him to fully share the skills he is most passionate about with future generations.
“I hope that they have a little something to remember about who taught them how to use a drill and a nail gun and how to cut wood,” Vargas said. “This is something to take home, and hopefully they’ll put a date on it, and remember, ‘Hey, this was made in Mr. Varga’s class.’” Aside from instructing, Vargas is equally as passionate about woodworking outside of class and often works on personal projects. He has been married to Elvira Vargas for 46 years, and the two are parents to Dezi Vargas and Heather Nicole Castillo.
He remains passionate about his work and aspires to continue seeing the students equally as excited to work on things hands-on.
“The experience of building a house is amazing,” Vargas reflected. “When I was doing it, it was probably the best years of my life right there.”
Vargas instructs about 80 students over seven class periods, and the course availability is growing more and more competitive for students to get in.
In the future, Vargas said he wants to expand the lessons, construct new items and take his students to state competitions.
“The kids are the ones that make it worthwhile,” Vargas said, slightly emotional. “I have several of them that come in here and have done a great job.”