I am pleased to report that the WCA recently launched a series of online training courses designed to provide a foundational understanding of woodworking for new employees. This new initiative aims to help wood manufacturing companies overcome the challenges of in-house training and accelerate their new hires’ productivity. The courses might also be of benefit to current employees.

The currently available modules include:

• WCA Overview: Introduces the WCA’s mission, skill standards, and credentialing process.
• Math, Measuring and Layout: Covers workshop-related math, including fractional math, and fundamental measuring and layout techniques.
• Wood Theory: Takes a deep dive into the properties of wood, wood movement, and lumber measurement.
• Milling and Machining: Teaches basic milling and machining operations, including how to mill a board “4 Square” using standard equipment.
• Woodworking Fundamentals: Explores panel products, adhesives, fasteners, joinery, and cabinet construction.

The courses are available free of charge to employees of companies with a current WCA MANufacturing™ Membership and to students at schools with an EDUcation™ Membership.

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Ten woodworking teachers attended the AWFS Fair, July 22-25 in Las Vegas with the support of scholarship money from the WCA.

Each of the teachers told us that the education they received from the classes they attended, and the time spent visiting with exhibitors on the show floor was an invaluable experience. They all appreciated the ability to gain continued education through seeing what is new and exciting in our secondary processing industry.

Thanks to the continued support of our GOLD and SILVER Sponsors, WCA is able to continue to offer our EDUcation members the opportunities to participate in our industry’s most important tradeshows.

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WCA’s overhaul of the Passport Program Registry is approximately 50% complete and is right on schedule. We will be preparing new training material for educators so they will be able to understand how it operates and start using it during the Spring 2026 semester. Look for an update in the next Pathways newsletter.

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Last but not least, a big shout out to Jon Cerio, ACE Academy Instructor at Gov. John R. Rogers High School in Puyallup, Washington. Jon was just honored with the 2025 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools (HFTS) Prize for Teaching Excellence. He is the third WCA EDUcation teacher to win this prestigious award in the last four years.

Congratulations, Jon!

Sincerely,

Scott Nelson
President
Woodwork Career Alliance of North America
snelsonwca@gmail.com