PEARSON — The buzz generated by teacher Scott Johnson’s Sawdust Club at Pearson Elementary School appears to be just as loud as the saws the students use to cut into the pine of their first-ever woodworking projects.

Members in the after school club, which includes about a dozen students, are learning to use basic tools as they craft practical final pieces. They’ve recently been working on foot stools — that, once finished, can be taken home.

Johnson, whose father, Jack Johnson, helped found the shop class and department at Fairview Junior High in Central Kitsap, said his upbringing often included saws, drills and hammers, and he wanted to teach the skills to interested students.

“I grew up having access to tools,” he said. “I just feel obliged, having the knowledge to do this stuff, to pass it on.”

Using a C-clamp to mount lengths of pine to their desks, the students used coping saws to precisely steer around the design. In making the foot stools, they’ve traced the design in the shape of a giant foot.

While the class is very popular, it definitely has its work “cut out” for it in the educational process.

The Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) has made for a greater emphasis on core subjects, likely decreasing elective options such as woodworking at the elementary level, Johnson added.

“It seems like there’s not exactly a push for this right now in education,” he said. “I thought, ‘What better way to do it than this?’”

Fourth grader Christian Liden said he’ll be using what Johnson has taught him “to make more things and teach other people.”

Sixth grader Kory Deppe said working with the wood gives her a chance to “be creative and do what you want to do.”

“You might not get power tools here, but these are pretty good,” she said, referring to the coping saw. “And we can learn these things and use them for future reference.”

Some of the students enjoyed just getting to do a school activity unlike anything else they do at Pearson.

“It’s different,” said fourth grader Kati Ray. “And it’s pretty cool that we get to make all this stuff.”

“I really like building and making the projects,” added sixth grader Dalton Good. “There’s always something to do with them. It’s useful and fun.”

Good, who has been in three sessions of “Sawdust” asked his friend, sixth grader Kyle Carpenter, to come and see what it’s all about. Carpenter obliged and said he’s having a great time thus far.

“I actually get to use a handsaw,” Carpenter exclaimed.

One aspect Johnson said he hopes the students will best learn is just how practical the skills they’re learning can be in the future.

“This is promoting lifelong learning skills,” he said. “Down the line, they’ll need to know how to swing a hammer. When they have their own houses, they can do their own projects with what they’ve learned.”