11 January 2016
Wood-teaching...and more
Profemadera is the Spanish Wood Teachers Association - a national nonprofit organization, established in 1997, with more than 140 members, all working to improve the secondary schools’ teaching models in the field of wood.
Last March 2015, the International Wood Culture Society, as part of the "Wood World Day" celebration, announced a video contest around the topic "Wood and Humanity".
And there was the challenge: to get money to make the video! The teachers knew the importance of telling the story because life as a wood teacher is entirely around the relationship between wood and humanity.
Working in collaboration with Sirius, a Spanish video production company, they received the support of friends, associates, and family through a crowdfunding campaign.
The shooting was developed over two months, in six different VET schools, from all around Spain.
There are different regions, administrative supports, students, environments, and facilities, but there is only one story: how the teachers are turning their passion for wood into the best ways of teaching, and how, on a daily basis, this is helping many young people choose a skill and have a future.
The 10-minute video "Wood Teaching" talks about teaching, wood, and much more: it's about the importance of the daily work of thousands of teachers around the world.
"The process for shooting and editing the video wasn't easy; it could have been easier and higher technical quality, but the story would have been exactly the same, because it is about us, wherever we are, it's about VET teachers’ lives,” said Carlos González, Chairman of Profemadera.
Finally, 226 videos were submitted to the contest. Most of them were perfect pieces, technically great, poetical stories around wood and humanity. And the video "Wood Teaching" got an honorable mention from the jury.
There are many ways to improve the world with the power of skills, and we think that this short video demonstrates just that. Teaching is one of the most powerful ways to create an impact, especially when teachers love what they teach.