{"id":25193,"date":"2024-10-24T12:09:51","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T18:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/swos-receives-woodworking-tools-donated-from-local-man-with-cancer\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:11:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:11:59","slug":"swos-receives-woodworking-tools-donated-from-local-man-with-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/swos-receives-woodworking-tools-donated-from-local-man-with-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"SWOS receives woodworking tools donated from local man with cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"John
John Wood, who donated his woodworking tools to Southwestern Open School, is shown blacksmithing with his son. (Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Southwest Open School recently received a donation of woodworking tools from Dolores resident John Jackson Wood, who has prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.<\/p>\n

Casey Simpson, SWOS director, told The<\/em> Journal<\/em> that he was contacted by John Woods\u2019 daughter, Jennifer Woods, who said her father wished to donate his woodworking tools to SWOS to \u201chelp us uplift our hands-on woodworking class.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn told his daughter that he really respects and values the service that SWOS provides to the community and he wanted his tools to support our work,\u201d Simpson told The<\/em> Journal<\/em>. \u201cScott Spear (SWOS\u2019 hands-on learning teacher) and I went to John\u2019s house and retrieved the tools. and it is clear that the man was an excellent craftsman and that his donation was amazingly generous. John\u2019s sentiment about SWOS is the type of impression SWOS strives for and we really appreciate his affirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wood was described as a man who has had \u201ca rich and varied life dedicated to education, community service and the arts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woods, who has a Ph. D., had a 28-year career in anthropology at Northern Arizona University and worked with the Navajo Nation in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis assessments contributed to understanding the relationship between the Navajo people and their land, culminating in a report presented in Washington, D.C., that explored the intersections of land, religion and cultural identity,\u201d Woods\u2019 bio said.<\/p>\n

When Woods retired at the age of 53, he and his wife moved to Dolores, where they became \u201cdeeply involved\u201d in the community. Along with other residents, Woods and his wife helped establish the Greater Dolores Action, a nonprofit that assesses and advocates for the needs and \u201caspirations\u201d of the community.<\/p>\n

Along with working with the Greater Dolores Action, Woods began learning woodworking. For eight years, he \u201choned his craft,\u201d built furniture for their home and commissioned pieces. These pieces include a deacon\u2019s chair and oak table. He also started blacksmithing, taking a class in Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis new passion birthed a workshop on his property where he crafted tools, gates, railings, trellises and smaller items, engaging in the craft for two decades and participating in local craft fairs,\u201d his bio shared.<\/p>\n

After being diagnosed with prostate cancer that spread to his bones, Woods took up watercolor painting for several years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout his varied artistic endeavors, woodworking, blacksmithing and painting, he emphasized traditional techniques, seeking to learn and preserve the \u2018old ways\u2019 of craftsmanship,\u201d his bio said. \u201cHis commitment to experiential education was evident in his desire to pass on his woodworking tools to the Southwest Open School, believing fervently in the power of hands-on learning for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to those close to him, his journey \u201creflects a deep engagement with both his community and the artistic traditions he cherished, leaving a lasting legacy through his contributions and teachings. His willingness to share his skills with youths at the Southwest Open School stands as a testament to his belief in fostering creativity and knowledge in the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wood\u2019s donation was given to SWOS to preserve hands-on learning in education<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,155,28,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-25193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78837,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25193\/revisions\/78837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25193"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}