Students in two different Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES programs built items to support a Poland Volunteer Fire Co. Inc. fundraiser raffle.
The Trade classes in the Herkimer BOCES Pathways Academy at Remington built and stained two Adirondack chairs for the raffle, and the Welding and Metal Fabrication program built a firepit.
Poland Volunteer Fire Co. Inc. Assistant Chief Shawn Fleming picked up the chairs from the Pathways Academy on Friday, April 4.
“They did a great job,” Fleming said. “It’s amazing.”
Tickets for the raffle are available at the Poland Volunteer Fire Co. Inc.’s fish fires 4-7 p.m. on Fridays through April 18 at 216 State Route 8 in Cold Brook. You can also contact the department at 315-826-7141.
Michele Szarek, a member of the Herkimer BOCES Board of Education and Poland Central School District Board of Education, helped organize the donations and joined Fleming for picking up the chairs.
“They came out beautifully,” Szarek said. “I’m very impressed with the work these kids did.”
This is the third year that Herkimer BOCES programs have supported the raffle, Szarek said. The previous two years, she turned to two Career and Technical Education programs: Welding and Metal Fabrication and Building Construction. This year, the Building Construction program couldn’t do the chairs, so she reached out to the Pathways Academy’s Trade classes.
“I know the kids are always looking to work on some kind of project,” Szarek said.
Herkimer BOCES Pathways Academy Principal Cory Pike said BOCES welcomes community partners and schools to reach out about collaborating on projects such as this – especially when they are able to provide the materials for students to build the items.
Making the Adirondack chairs to support the Poland department also helps the students, Pike said.
“Anytime that we can give students educational opportunities that will benefit the community, the more value they will have in it,” Pike said.
Adam Spatto, the teacher of the Pathways Academy Trade classes, and Cheri Evangelista, the teacher assistant for the classes, also spoke about the value of the project for students.
“It’s something nice for the kids to do,” Spatto said. “It’s good for the community. It’s good for the kids.”
The Trade classes are available to students in grades 9-12 at the Pathways Academy, and there are level 1-3 Trade classes. Older students cut the pieces, built the chairs and more. Younger students did sanding, staining and clear-coating, and they received support from older students, Evangelista said.
“It was nice to see how the older students would help younger kids learn,” Evangelista said. “It was a nice team project.”
Two Pathways Academy students also attended as the Adirondack chairs were picked up: Brandyn Clark, a ninth grader from Little Falls City School District who helped with the sanding in Trade class, and Brayden Hubbard, a senior from Poland Central School District who took Trade classes when younger and is a member of the Poland Volunteer Fire Co. Inc.
Hubbard, who has an exterior firefighter certification and is going for his interior certification soon, said while visiting the Trade classroom that it was nice to be involved with a project that intertwines his school and his community.
“It does feel good,” he said.
The Poland Volunteer Fire Co. Inc. picked up two Adirondack Chairs built by the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Pathway Academy at Remington’s Trade classes on Friday, April 4. From left, standing: Brayden Hubbard, a Pathways Academy senior from Poland Central School District who is a member of the Poland fire company; Shawn Fleming, assistant chief of the fire company; Michele Szarek, a member of the Herkimer BOCES Board of Education and Poland Central School District Board of Education; Cory Pike, principal of the Herkimer BOCES Pathways Academy, and Adam Spatto, teacher of the Trade classes. Sitting: Cheri Evangelista, teacher assistant of the Trade classes, and Brandyn Clark, a ninth grader from Little Falls City School District who helped with the chairs in Trade class.