Walk into Tim Zavacki's shop at Warren Hills High School in Washington, New Jersey, and you'll find about 100 students at every stage of the build process, from gluing up end grain cutting boards to turning segmented bowls on the lathe to filling knot holes with resin. Tim has been teaching Industrial Arts, Technology Education, and Engineering since 2001, and in the woodworking courses he teaches, TotalBoat is his go-to for resin and epoxy, along with several of the finishes his students use to bring their projects to life.
Where It Started
Tim's interest in working with his hands goes back to childhood and his grandfather, who worked in the trades. That early influence carried him through shop classes in school and on to The College of New Jersey, where he enrolled as a Technology Education major in 1996 and graduated cum laude in 2001. He holds New Jersey certifications in Industrial Arts and Technology Education, along with a master's degree in education.
He started his career at Montgomery Middle School in September 2001 and moved to Hillsborough High School in January 2002, where he spent 13 years teaching courses like Small Engines, Automotive Technology, Drafting, Graphic Arts, Web Design, Digital Publishing, and Engineering. While at Hillsborough he also coached baseball for 12 seasons and led a Technology Education Club for five years. In February 2015 he joined Warren Hills High School, where he primarily teaches wood manufacturing along with electronics and robotics, a mix that reflects his belief that traditional shop skills and modern technology belong side by side.
Inside the Warren Hills Shop
Today Tim's woodworking students focus primarily on cutting boards, boxes, scroll saw work, and furniture, along with a wide variety of projects that grow out of their own ideas. A quick scroll through his Instagram shows how much ground that covers in a single week, with end grain boards in woven patterns, bent lamination, segmented bowls headed for the lathe, hand-carved pieces, and a seemingly endless supply of student-made chopsticks. Over in his electronics and robotics classes, students build circuitry trainers and test their tele-operated driving skills against the clock.
Tim puts a lot of weight on what his students tell him. His year-long thematic unit, whose topic stays under lock and key until a big reveal day, is getting a new structure for 2026–27 based directly on their feedback, with a full marking period set aside for planning and research before 90 days of hands-on building begins in January.
TotalBoat in the Classroom
When a woodworking project calls for epoxy, TotalBoat is Tim's go-to. He likes how easy the products are for high school students to apply, and he values having TotalBoat's support and customer service team behind him. Students gravitate toward UV resin for its wide range of color options and simple application, and Tim finds Penetrating Epoxy just as easy to work with. On a recent project, the class filled a knot hole with UV resin in several thin lifts, using a UV flashlight on a stand so each layer cured completely through to the bottom before the next pour.
Projects that call for High Performance Epoxy or deep pour epoxy go to his more advanced students, since those systems require careful hand measuring and mixing. As the class gears up for final projects this year, Tim expects to put even more High Performance Epoxy to work, and students will soon use epoxy to attach the scales to knives they've made. For utility projects and joints where wood glue won't do the job, the class also reaches for TotalBond CA Glue in black and clear, which Tim likes for its ease of use with students.
TotalBoat finishes have earned their place in the shop, too. For the past three years, students have finished their end grain cutting boards with Wood Honey, applying it as the final coat after mineral oil, and they love how smooth the boards feel after just one or two applications. Spoons and other kitchen projects get the same treatment. Last school year, Tim's upper-level classes also worked with oil-based Signature Stain, and he likes both its color options and the way it applies. For topcoating, the class turns to Gleam.
Epoxy also gives students room to add a personal touch. One student recently picked out TotalBoat mica powder for an epoxy inlay in a picture frame, turning a basic frame build into something that's unmistakably hers. The class also gave TotalBoat's new PVA wood glue its first test in October, and Tim noticed right away that it dries clearer on light-colored woods than glues that dry more yellow or brown. A bottle of the new Tung Oil is waiting on the shelf for its turn as well.
Beyond the School Day
Tim's teaching doesn't stop at the final bell. He's also an instructor at the NJ School of Woodwork in Washington, New Jersey, where he leads classes like bowl turning, and he's an active member of the NJ Technology & Engineering Education Association. He's part of a close network of shop teachers who share ideas, cheer on each other's students, and step in to help when someone's shop comes up short on supplies.
This fall, Tim also spent time with the crew at Maker Camp, where his son, Trevor, had a great time and made an epoxy moon alongside TotalBoat ambassador and artist, Brittany Carbone. Moments like that capture what Tim values most about hands-on learning, which is giving people of any age the chance to build confidence and discover the satisfaction of creating something with their own hands.
Follow Along
We're proud to have TotalBoat products on the benches at Warren Hills, and we love seeing what Tim's students create with them. You can follow their projects, from first glue-up to final finish, on Instagram at @zavacki_tech_ed.
If you're a teacher looking to bring epoxy, resin, or wood finishing projects into your own shop, our technical support team is happy to help you choose the right products and work through your process. Give them a call at (888) 986-6623.
Wood Honey Food Safe Wood Finish
