Practical Arts Department

The Hill-Murray Practical Department offers students coursework to help them develop knowledge and lifelong skills in three areas: technology, business, and family and consumer science. Department goals include helping students discover a vocation or an avocation; learn relevant, practical business skills; stay current with trends, technology, and educational standards; and set students up for success in a world that demands them to be business literate; establish healthy living choices for themselves and their families; acquire knowledge of prenatal care and developmental growth; learn basics of parenting skills, consumer education, and the preparation of nutritious foods; and become wiser consumers in the future.

Business Education
Course Descriptions

COMPUTER LITERACY: Grades 9-12

This course is designed to help students learn essential computer skills. After building keyboarding speed and accuracy, students will use Microsoft Word to create and format meaningful documents for college and beyond. They will also use Excel and PowerPoint to create powerful spreadsheets and effective presentations. Upon completion of this course, students will have their completed work to create a reference manual for future use.

SALES AND MARKETING: Grades 10-12

This course will help students understand marketing and discover how to apply what they learn to both personal and business settings. Students will learn about topics such as interviewing for a job, marketing ethics, market research, consumer behavior and many others. Activities will include realistic, hands-on assignments and projects. This class will also include guest speakers as available, giving students a chance to talk to business marketing professionals.

CONSUMER EDUCATION: Grades 11-12
This is a personal finance class designed to give students the skills they need to manage their money and credit and to make wise, safe decisions as a consumer. This class will help any student by teaching them practical, personal, finance concepts and skills.

ADVANCED COMPUTER APPLICATIONS: Grades10-12
This course is designed to provide students with a variety of contemporary computer application skills. Webpage development, the use of social media tools, more in-depth use of the MS Office Suite podcasting and other applicable technologies will be taught.

ACCOUNTING I: Grades 11-12
Accounting is the language of every business, making this a great elective for anyone thinking about business as a major in college. The class will help students understand basic accounting terminology and the rules and procedures of accounting. The course will also include solving accounting problems with and without the use of a computer and teach double entry accounting using the General Journal (General Ledger) system. Learning the “how” and “why” of accounting will enable students to keep accurate financial records from which to make wise financial decisions.

Technology Education
Course Descriptions

INTRO TO TECH EDUCATION: 7th grade.
Students are exposed to technical skills in graphic arts, drafting/design, woodworking, and model rocketry.

EXPLORING TECH EDUCATION: 8th grade.
Expands the student’s experiences from the previous year. Curriculum topics include woodworking, plastics, and electricity.

WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY: 9th grade.
A year-long course devoted to a variety of technical fields such as drafting/design, woodworking, plastics, pneumatics/hydraulics, magnetic levitation vehicles, and model rocketry. The emphasis of this course is on hands-on activities.

MACHINE WOODWORKING: Grades 10-12.
Students experience hands-on exposure to a wide variety of hand and powered tools and machines by constructing a Grandfather Clock/Bookcase and a Coffee/End Table. Strong emphasis on safety.

MODERN CABINETMAKING: Grades 11-12.
Allows a student to select a project while demonstrating skills acquired in “Machine Woodworking.”

ARCHITECTURAL DRAFTING AND DESIGN: Grades 11-12.
Students are introduced to the field of Architecture by working with a “client” in the designing and drawing of a residential floor plan.

SMALL GAS ENGINES: Grades 11-12.
Students discover the workings of the internal combustion engine through the disassembly, inspection, and reassembly of a small, four-stroke engine.

Family and Consumer Science
Course Descriptions

SKILLS FOR LIVING: Grade 7
A course designed to introduce students to basic health issues and living skills. Students learn home skills such as sewing and study healthy choices related to substance use.

SKILLS FOR LIVING: Grade 8
Student study nutritious snacks and learn to prepare a balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner. T he consumer education unit focuses on teen shopping trends and making wise choices as a consumer.

FOODS: Grades 9-10

UPPERCLASSMEN FOODS: 11-12
Emphasis is baking and cooking techniques of quick breads, yeast breads, pasta and rice, fruits and vegetables, dairy, eggs and proteins. Meal preparation ties all of the various food preparation techniques together.

ETHNIC/GOURMET FOODS: Grades 11-12
Emphasis is on two distinct areas: food presentation; and exploring and preparing ethnic and regional foods from different areas of the USA and the world.

PARENTING SKILLS: Grades 11-12
Students study pregnancy, prenatal, infant, toddler and preschool developmental stages. Specialty topics such as how children learn, discipline, illnesses, SIDS, and other topics.

Faculty

Top: Julie Peterson, Mary Mohan
Lower: Brad Peterson, Tom Houle

Tom Houle (Business Education) attended Chisago Lakes High School, then continued his education at Bethel University, earning a B.S in Accounting and Human Resource Management. After working for an accounting firm and manufacturing company, he returned to college to earn his teaching license in Business Education from the University of Minnesota. He is now in the process of completing a Masters in Business and Marketing Education.

Mary Mohan (Business Education) has been teaching computer classes at Hill-Murray since 1999. She earned her BS in Mathematics Education and her MS in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Brad Peterson (Technology Education) attended the University of Wisconsin (Stout) where he earned both his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees. He taught middle school in Stoughton, WI for 8 years, worked at a cabinet shop in Madison, WI, and begin teaching at Hill-Murray in 1985.

Julie Peterson earned a B.S in Home Economics for Business at the University of Wisconsin, Stout. She received a teaching degree from University of Wisconsin, Madison and began her teaching career at Hill-Murray in 1986.