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GWINN -- Computer-aided drafting and design students at Gwinn High School are doing much more than sitting in a classroom all day. They're making grade-A quality manufactured goods, including a log-splitter, a sauna heater and a trailer.

"A lot of kids want to come here every day. They're doing the academics, and that's great, but they love to apply it somewhere, and the industrial ed. classes are a great place for that," said CAD teacher, Joe Routhier.

It all starts in the computer lab where students sketch and draft the product, then they hit the garage and the creating begins.

For the past three months, the CAD students have been working on a log-splitter. It's a fully-functioning log-splitter and has the same quality of one you'd find in a department store.

Students can submit ideas on what they want to make, and sometimes they'll even sell what they make to the public.

For their end of the year project, the class wanted to make a motorized scooter, and I got to try it out firsthand.

"Their group dynamics, their communication and problem solving really comes together when they're out here working together. You can talk about it in the classroom, but until you actually come out here and actually work together for lots of hours, two hours every day, then you can really see it start to gel," Routhier said.

Taking the hands-on class has its benefits, too. If a student completes all three levels of the CAD class, they will earn eight credit hours at Northern Michigan University.

"If you're going to work in an industry or any type of technology, I know this will help you greatly. Often in college, people I know say they're already more advanced than any other student from what we learned in here," said Manufacturing student Jacob Wells.