Woody Crafts a New Career Helping Students
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Edward “Woody” Spurgeon is a lifelong resident of Darien and a retired businessman who has been generously giving his mornings to the students of DHS by helping out in the woodworking room. Woody has been providing an extra set of eyes and ears to Mr. Leon Strecker, a fellow woodworking teacher, for five years.
“Woody is the most dependable, kind and grandfatherly man,” Mr. Strecker said.
Woody is a fitting nickname for this woodworking enthusiast. The moniker was coincidentally given to him by his mother at a young age before his love for wood craftsmanship emerged. Growing up with the nickname Woody, his love for woodworking may have been inevitable and did start at a young age.
To Woody, woodworking is “much more than just using tools, it’s about planning, perseverance, pride, overcoming obstacles and a sense of accomplishment,” he said. When asked what the favorite project he completed was, Woody took a while to respond but finally came up with an answer. He told me about a 14-foot outboard motor he spent two years constructing when he was in high school and was proud to report that this project held the record for the largest woodworking project ever completed at the time.
While his love for woodworking is very obvious, until recently it had not been his main focus. Woody went to Dartmouth College and studied engineering and business, which led him to securing a 38- year-career at General Electric. His job had many different aspects that ranged from aircraft engines, major appliances and electrical equipment. In addition to a variety of venues at the company, Woody had the opportunity to travel to places such as Japan, Hong Kong and Germany.
After retiring in 1990, Woody took courses at the Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan with the thought that he could become an artist. After about six years, Woody realized that becoming an artist was not a realistic outlet for him and this realization left him looking once again for a meaningful activity to fill his retirement years. To brainstorm ideas, Woody made a list of possible things he could do on a list of paper. The most appealing was to become a high school teacher, but what to teach? Again Woody's love for woodworking surfaced and he knew then had found his new career.
The next step for Woody was to figure out how to make this new goal of becoming a high school woodworking teacher a reality. One night at a dinner he met Mallory Wineman, the head of volunteers at DHS, who suggested he contact Leon Strecker. After what Woody described as a "long process of getting Lee Strecker to invite him" the two of them worked out a deal.
Since 2003, Woody has come in every morning from 7:40am-11am to help for three periods a day. Strecker is very grateful for Woody's help and views him as "an incredibly important part of the community." His three classes consist of two Woodworking 1 classes and a Woodworking 2 class, which allows him to help less experienced students develop their skills as well as help more experienced students broaden their understanding and skill level.
Freshman Scott Waters, a student in one of his woodworking classes, has taken advantage of Woody's generosity and knowledge and received lots of help with his various projects. Waters described Woody as being "always enthusiastic to help kids around the shop.”
When asked what his favorite part of the job was, Woody immediately responded "the kids. It's all about the students, their energy and excitement rubs off on you." He went on further to tell me how he can't wait to get up in the morning and spend time with the DHS students and that he "loves seeing the look on the kids faces when they put on the final coat of varnish and give me a high five."
