The SD Workshop
Now enrolling for Spring 2027

The SD Workshop

Hands-on building and home repair classes for kids in San Diego County. Students learn they can understand, build, and fix the world around them.

See the classes Email Marty

Classes

Small, hands-on classes where every student builds, tests, and fixes real things each week. All tools and supplies are included.

Cardboard Construction

Grades K–6 · Mondays

What can you build with a box, a ChompSaw, and a good idea? A lot! Students design and build real, working creations out of cardboard, from sculptures and vehicles to carnival games, marble runs, and machines with levers, hinges, and axles.

  • Kid-safe ChompSaws with no blade, plus scissors, rulers, tape, and glue
  • Projects matched to each student's age and skill
  • Planning, strong structures, and fixing what doesn't work
  • Ends with a cardboard carnival to share what students built

Home Repair

Grades 4–12 · Wednesdays

Every home has a running toilet, a hole in the wall, or a door that sticks. Taught by a working electrician, students learn how a house works and how to fix the everyday problems every homeowner runs into.

  • Tools and safety, walls and fasteners, electricity, plumbing, doors, and home care
  • Patch drywall, wire a switch and outlet, repair a lamp, fix a running toilet
  • All electrical work on unpowered practice boards; plumbing on practice rigs
  • Ends with a fix-it challenge of staged home problems

Class details

Spring 2027 classes meet in Encinitas at Thrive Learning Center.

Tuition
$440 per semesteror $110 a month for 4 months, supplies included
Class size
Up to 12 studentsso every student gets hands-on help
Schedule
60-minute classesweekly, over a 16-week semester
Homework
Noneall building happens in class

For charter school families

All SD Workshop classes are non-sectarian. They contain no religious instruction, content, or materials, so they can be paid for with charter school enrichment funds.

  • Classes are open to all students, with no tryouts, auditions, or testing.
  • The SD Workshop is an independent educational vendor and is not a private school.
  • Vendor approval with Pacific Coast Academy (PCA) is in progress. Ask your charter about using enrichment funds.
  • Charters are billed by the semester after services begin, using your charter's enrichment certificate or purchase order.

About Marty

Hi! I'm Marty O'Dea. For the past 17 years I've worked as an electrician, and for 13 of those I've run my own construction company. Along the way, I've spent a lot of time alongside every trade, both on job sites and in my own home.

I love showing kids that the things around them, from a cardboard box to the outlet on the wall, are things they can understand, build, and fix themselves. My goal in every class is to help each student find their spark and leave confident that they can turn their own ideas into real things.

My wife, Natalie, and I have been married for 12 years and have four children. As a family, we get outside as much as we can, whether it's camping, beach days, rock climbing, or fishing.

"I had an idea, and I made it come to life." That's the moment I teach for.

Questions or interest?

Email Marty about classes, charter billing, or anything else.

thesdworkshop@gmail.com