Catie Chaplan has been an instructor at the Wood Technology Center since the mid-1990s. She currently is the lead instructor in the Carpentry program. In addition, Catie teaches the computer-aided design (CAD) and computer numeric control (CNC) classes at the WTC and is interested in combining digital fabrication with traditional building techniques.

Catie has been a professional builder for the past 26 years and has worked for general contractors, boat builders, and cabinet shops. She has owned and operated a residential design/build company in Seattle since 2002. Catie received a BA in Philosophy from Colgate University in 1990. She began her career in woodworking when she moved to Seattle and, enrolled in the Marine Carpentry Program at the Wood Technology Center (formerly Gompers). Catie was the first woman ever to graduate from the Marine Carpentry Program.

Catie is dedicated to teaching and is an active member of the Wood Technology Center community. She enjoys getting to know students and helping them develop great building and computer skills.

Dave’s career as a builder started, literally, on the rocks at age 13 while growing up in Cape Cod. He and his dad found a skiff that had washed ashore, rebuilt her, and launched her in the marshes behind Scituate Harbor. Unfortunately, it was a boat that required a crew, since it proved difficult to row and bail at the same time!

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry, Dave started his first turn at the trades with a stint as a commercial diver but the pull of boatbuilding never really left him. So in the early 1980s he took a position with Schooner Creek Boat Works in Portland, OR, building custom cold-molded yachts. After building a Bill Garden “Eel” for himself and a trailer he sailed from Florida to Maine. He returned to the Northwest and settled in Seattle vowing to work in a “normal field” (that is, anything besides boat-building).

As part of a two man cabinet shop, Dave serviced several designers and built custom built-ins and trim, but realized that his technical skills needed some polishing. Dave attended the Wood Technology Center (formerly the Wood Construction Center) in the early 1990s where he found something that was actually better than building one-offs—teaching! He has been a computer applications and woodworking instructor since 1992 and teaches the CORE class offered the first quarter of all three trade areas. In their spare time, Dave and his wife Wendy can be found remodeling their 1904 craftsman bungalow in Seattle.

Sam Laher is a shipwright who has been working in the marine trades for 19 years.

He was born and raised in Minnesota and grew up fishing on its many lakes, rivers and ponds. After graduating from the state’s Art High School he attended the University of Minnesota. However, his real interest was the water, so in 1995 he joined the Coast Guard.

After serving four years as an engineer, Sam got out of the Coast Guard and became a marine mechanic, working on everything from container ships to private yachts. Longing for something more creative, he enrolled in the Marine Carpentry program at Seattle Central College in 2002. After graduating he went straight to work as shipwright apprentice.

As a shipwright Sam has worked in a variety of environments, from small boatyards to large union shipyards. He has owned his own business as well as worked for many old-time masters of the trade.

Sam feels honored to be teaching at the Wood Technology Center and stresses the importance of safety to his students - not only personal safety, but also making boats safe for the people who will be using them.

John has been a professional cabinetmaker and architectural woodworker since 1979. He began his career by training at the Wood Technology Center (formerly the Wood Construction Center) and became a faculty member in 1987.

His extensive building background includes residential and commercial interior construction projects, individual and one-of-a-kind studio furniture pieces and creative turnings. Throughout his career, John has been a builder, a project manager and a contractor.

John was born and raised in Seattle. He has made many contributions to better the lives of hundreds of students he has instructed and guided over the years who have chosen careers in cabinetmaking and architectural woodworking. John feels fortunate, during his years as an educator, to have touched their lives while creating inspiration and confidence in them.

John’s interests include art, music, architecture and all forms of craft and creativity. He teaches his students that “the connection between the heart and hand is very rewarding … and now it is time to build.”