History comes alive in shop class

RACHEL DE LAZZER

As a boy, Sean Carney would climb on Second World War tanks he saw in parks or in front of Legion halls. Yesterday, the 43-year-old shop teacher brought one to school.

Automotive technology students at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute will be
refurbishing the tank as part of their course. Mr. Carney, a military
history buff, thought it would be a great way to teach them the principles
of diesel engines and metal fabrication, and give them an appreciation for a piece of history.

"We talked about it every class," said student Aaron McKee, 17. Asked
whether he has ever had a teacher do anything like bring an army tank to
class, he said, "Not even close."

"I was thrilled and ecstatic to touch a piece of history -- to have it after
it's been through all its turmoil," Tanya Cagna, 17, said.

"This is about exposing my kids to a piece of history," Mr. Carney said. He
teaches about 85 students from Grades 9 through 12, including about 15
girls.

He expects the refurbishing to take from two to five years. The tank will
then be returned to Base Borden Military Museum in Borden, Ont., which is
lending the tank to the school.

It's not the first time Mr. Carney has rolled a massive piece of machinery
into the shop. Four or five years ago, he brought in a dump truck. Principal
Ron Ellis said they had trouble getting it through the doors. In September,
2006, Mr. Carney asked the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces for a historic tank. In each case, he was told it was a great idea,but it would never happen because of the red tape involved.

In October, however, he took his students on a field trip to the Base Borden Military Museum, where he met retired Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Beaton. Then he made his pitch.

"Anybody that [pursues] Canadian history of any kind, especially military
history, I listen to," Mr. Beaton said. "We need all the help we can get
because our government tends to forget about our history."

Within 1½ months, Mr. Beaton had cleared up the legal details and paperwork needed to lend the M4 Sherman to the school.

"From a historical point of view, these things are just sitting there
rotting," said Mr. Carney, who told the agencies when he made his requests that it wouldn't cost them anything -- and he would give them back a restored tank.

He believes only about 500 of the M4 Sherman model tanks, dubbed the
Firefly, were ever made.

Bob Smale, history teacher at ECI, said the M4 Sherman was a British
variation on the Sherman tank designed exclusively to take out German Tiger tanks. The barrel was about twice as long as the barrel on a regular Sherman tank.

The Germans knew the M4 Shermans were a threat, so they would try to take them out before other tanks, Mr. Carney said, making the soldiers operating them a target.

The school is looking for financial support from the community for the
purchase of parts and metal to remake the historic tank.


here is a link to the newspaper article
, complete with pictutres!

THAT is so NOT fair.....!

Gotta love it, when I was in shop class we got to rebuild a 70's Ford Maverick.

Nice idea........ But when I was in shop, we built the Ark.

That is great for the kids, what better to hold their interest. just think they will be able to say "I worked on a tank in HS shop."

Of course this is in Canada - here (in the land of the free) a kid cant even take an action figure (that has a gun) to school or play cops-n-robbers with out being punished.

And how long ago was that, Dave? Hope you didn't have the original as a template!

It's great to see someone bringing history to life for his students. Not only that but the work the students do on it will cover just about everything that goes into any sort of body and mechanical work of any vehicle! What a FANTASTIC learning experience!

I think he DID mean the original

There is hope for the educational system, in some parts of this world.

An interesting vehicle a Grizzly/Firefly.

cheers

David

That is so lucky!

I went to normandy with the school, &Bastogne, but we spent less than a day in both.

I wonder if I can get into shop class again....


Dave

I wish my class was that cool...


I made a trebuchet in my shop class though, that was kinda neat. This is just too cool though. It's a shame the article is a little fuzzy on the details of the Firefly, it's obvious someone wasn't telling the story right.

Shoot, at least you got to go!! My wife and I are talking about a eurpoean trip for our 15 year anniversary, but thats8 years from now. That gives me just enough time to convince her that i really need some time at bastogne and the Hurtgen forest! Not to sound grim, but I dont think she'd like the idea of me bringing a metal detector along......

hey,
i know what you mean,not long ago ,a girl in grade school was given a three day suspension.her mother had placed a small smooth,round tipped butter knive in her lunch box(a well sharpened pencil,could do more damage!)another school district near by suspended a student ,who enjoy's hockey and was drawing team emblems,is seams one team uses a crown,school said it was gang graffiti.

As an up and coming agriculture/shop teacher that is an awesome idea! I think that I'm just crazy enough to try something like that! One of the biggest things teacher's battle is student apathy... But not with a TANK!!!!!

Think of the educational opportunities for not only the shop kids!
1. All the history classes
2. how about the math classes figuring out shell trajectories/ballistics...
3. Chemistry classes looking at composition of different materials/supplies for the tank

Any other ideas for classes?

I was at the base where this tank usually sits and was wondering what happend to it. The pad was there with big drag marks off it.




Its actually suprising here that they are doing this. I would have expected to see someone complain about it. Its almost as bad up here with all the PC crap too.

Hi guys,
I wrote to the fella who wrote the article, expressing our concerns about the students realizing what a rare gift they've been given, and he has written me a few times. here are those letters for you to peruse, and I think the last one should be of particular importance to those who really want to help, or know someone who can.

Mr. Miller

I am amazed to hear that you and your colleagues down south have heard about our Sherman project. I assure you that I am honoured at being entrusted with such a historic vehicle to restore. I have been telling my students for months about the significance of the firefly and how rare it is. Being an avid student of military history I am very excited about bringing history to my shop classes in a way that they can feel part of it. Working inside the tank makes me feel as though I'm in a time machine. I have attached a few pictures of our tank and will soon have a web site up to allow people to track our progress.

If you would like to call me my numbers are below


School 416 394 4888 ext. 20060

Cell 647 222 9724

Sean Carney






********************************************************************************
Steve

I am glad that our project has generated so much interest. As you alluded to being a teacher my job is to create interest in learning that has definitely been achieved with the tank. Now we are actively looking for financial and technical donations and trying to source a 9 cylinder continental radial engine. Any help with either of these would be greatly appreciated.

Sean Carney

That is absolutely cool.

Very cool project. Wish I was in high school again ... and in that school in particular!

But I can't help wonder: Grizzly hull with a Firefly turret? First I've heard of this ever existing. Might be a post-war cobble.

Actually I think Grumpy meant the Prototype!!

Hi Dave! looks like I'm Back!

For all interested parties, here is an update I received today on the tank project!

Etobicoke Collegiate Institute
Tank Restoration Project Update

On March 27, 2007 a World War II Tank of the same construction as a Sherman firefly was delivered to the Auto shop at Etobicoke Collegiate in Toronto to be restored to mechanically operational condition. This project was the product of an agreement between Sean Carney the auto Shop teacher at Etobicoke Collegiate and retired Colonel Stuart Beaton director of the Canadian Forces Base Borden Museum. The tank itself was delivered into the shop at ECI courtesy of the generous donation of services and equipment from Mark Alden of Scott Woods Transport, Heather Walsh of Bill and Son Towing and Steve Steel of the Snowman.

According to information that has been gathered to date the Thirty Three ton vehicle is a Canadian built Sherman cast hull called a Grizzly, built at the Montreal Locomotive works in 1941 or 42. The turret has a 17 pounder British anti tank gun mounted in it making it the same as a Firefly designated Sherman that many Canadians fought in during World War II. We are unsure of where the turret was modified or if it came from another tank and was shipped over from Europe.

Since the vehicle arrived in our shop my students have managed to open all of the doors and hatches and made several components including the gun elevation and drivers seat operational. We are now in the process of trying to procure a 9 cylinder continental radial engine to rebuild and install as the one in our tank has been removed.

Last week Jim Whitham of the Ottawa War Museum hosted several students and myself giving us an in depth tour of the Museum and its many armoured vehicles. Mr. Whitham has restored many tanks of this era to operating condition and is currently working on a project to restore a German Panther tank. His advice and technical knowledge will prove invaluable to our project. He is also using his vast array of contacts to try and locate an engine and other missing pieces to help us complete our project.

The delivery of the tank has garnered huge media attention as well as international inquires and financial and technical donations from individuals and a group called the Armored Vehicle Preservation Society. These donations are well appreciated but we are still a long way from having the funding necessary to reach our goal. While we are working on the technical side of this restoration we are also actively looking for funding for this unique project marrying technical hands on experience with Canadian Military history. To this end we are selling T-shirts to help raise funds and plan on soliciting technical and financial support from the community.

In closing I would also like to make mention of Frank Wood a loader operator of the Calgary Tank Regiment who saw considerable amounts of combat in Sherman’s during the war. Mr. Woods is an extremely humble man who lives in the community and has obviously been touched by this project. My students have been very impressed with Mr. Woods during his visits and I feel he has brought home some of what it was like to serve on these machines while fighting for Canada.

If you would like to get in touch with me please feel free to call ECI at 416 394-7840, you may alsop want to have a look at our web site which we are still developing at www.ecitank.com

Respectfully

Sean Carney

How much are the T-shirts? and what do they look like? Your project was mentioned last night on the History Channel at the end of "tank overhaul"!
Please keep us advised.

Doug

I went to borden 2 months ago and it was nice to see the pieces there, it is a shame not more money is put into operating them. This is a really great piece of history and I hope they can get it working again.

The high school is just 1 hr away from me amazingly.

That is really amazing! Only can one do that outside the US... the county would flip into a frenzy if a teacher even made the off hand comment sudgesting this project. I hope they get it going!

-Mike

That is too cool

Arggghhh

I could have gone to that school. Darn it.