the best spinach i ever ate turned out be be fennel...

It all depends on the department. I studied theatre design, and so spent most of my time in a "lab" that included just about every shop tool under the sun, welding equipment, various paints and glues, not to mention heavy equipment like gantry cranes and several huge hydraulic lifts. Our shop was clean, well-lit and the tools were maintained. The was because the professors and other faculty made us keep it that way. I have seen certain freshmen forced to sweep the same floor four and five times over until they finally got it done right.

By senior year I had some spare time, so I took a few sculpture classes. Basically all the same tools, but most broken and dull. Dirt and dust was everywhere, and students where let loose on all types of equipment, even table saws with no training. Of course being arts students there was a lot of long hair and dangling jewelry, no fire extinguishers, no first aid kit, no faculty presence and a facility that was unsecured 24-7.

Needless to say i did all my work in the theatre shop and only went to the sculpture labs for classes.

I find your post hilariously ironic. As a so-called "gifted" student, like an earlier poster I was prevented from taking any shop classes in high-school. But, I could sign up for theatre classes, and in those (since I had no desire to act) I learned how to use all the basic shop tools, as well as basic electrical work, lighting, and sound.

I went on to get a BFA in theatre design, the only college curriculum that combined architecture, design, and engineering with actually producing the stuff you imagined. I learned to weld, to paint, make perfect dovetail joints, repair most tools, even how to sew....all as part of my coursework! I now work for Habitat for Humanity, where the best part of my job is teaching new volunteers how to use tools and build houses.

I've always said I would make a great shop teacher, but as far as I've ever heard, those jobs are long gone, plus no one can tell me where to even begin to get the training I would need.