A recent water main break at the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES William E. Busacker Complex provided both the literal water and the proverbial lemons, before the town of Herkimer’s Highway Department and the Herkimer BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations program made “lemonade” out of the situation by turning it into a learning experience for students.
Senior students in the Heavy Equipment Repair Operations program (or HERO, for short) helped town Highway Department workers repair the BOCES parking lot on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Students worked with cold patch, shoveled, raked, conducting tamping and operated a skid steer.
HERO senior Bella Lawrence, from Central Valley Central School District, said it was great for students to work with the town and do hands-on work to improve the parking lot right at their BOCES.
“I think it’s good exposure to what we could see in the field,” Lawrence said. “We’re doing real things. It’s not something in a textbook.”
The water main break on Jan. 23 at the Herkimer BOCES WEB Complex at 352 Gros Blvd. in Herkimer resulted in the complex closing for the day on Jan. 24 to allow the town of Herkimer to make repairs.
Herkimer BOCES school safety advisor James Garcia noticed the water in the parking lot during his morning routine checks on Jan. 23 and contacted Herkimer BOCES Director of Facilities Dan Parker, and they coordinated with town of Herkimer Highway Superintendent Ken Ward. Ward did the repair work the next day, and then Garcia asked if Ward would like to involve students in the HERO program and HERO instructor Jeffrey Weeks in the next round of repairs.
“Ken has always been responsive and helpful to BOCES. He’s just great,” Garcia said. “And I saw it as a good opportunity for students to get some real-life, hands-on experience by working with the town on this. It’s awesome to see it come together and have our own students fixing our parking lot.”
Ward, a 1999 graduate of the Herkimer BOCES Welding and Metal Fabrication program, has helped out BOCES in the past and also worked with the HERO program earlier in the school year to show students how to chain down equipment.
“I was very impressed with how they behaved and how they wanted to learn,” Ward said. “I didn’t expect it. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.”
So when Ward was asked to include the HERO students, he was happy to do it. Ward said the students were involved with all aspects of the ditch repair and worked hard.
“They’re giving their all to it,” Ward said. “They’re ready to learn. They’re all invested. It’s great to see.”
Weeks was also happy to have his HERO students involved in the project.
“I think it’s a really, really good opportunity for them,” Weeks said. “It’s something that they don’t do every day. It gives them more opportunity to learn and see different things and how it’s actually done in industry.”
Weeks also hopes connections such as working with the town or local businesses could help lead students to internship opportunities or future jobs.
Another benefit of the project is that it allows students to do work that benefits their community, Weeks said.
“They’re helping the town and their own school,” Weeks said. “I know they are really glad to be part of this opportunity.”
HERO senior Sean Murray, from Owen D. Young Central School District, spoke about how doing work right outside the BOCES building makes it feel more real and more important.
“It’s something you have to look at every day,” Murray said. “If you’re not proud of your work, why do it at all?”
During the work, Murray was one of the students who operated a skid steer and dumped cold patch on the areas of the parking lot that needed repair.
“It was my first time, so it was a little shaky, but it was good,” Murray said.
Murray also enjoyed collaborating with the town workers.
“I think it’s a good learning experience; a good teaching moment,” Murray said.
Lawrence also said she was glad to have a chance to work with the town Highway Department.
“I think it’s great for our program because it gives us connections to the workplace after graduation,” she said.
Ward said he plans to come back in the spring in warmer weather to team with the HERO program again to see if the parking lot repairs have settled at all and do some more work.
As a Herkimer BOCES graduate himself, Ward sees the value that a career and technical education provides.
“It’s a great thing for a lot of students that don’t like a more traditional education and enjoy a more hands-on program,” he said, noting that was the case for him.
Ward, who has had an intern from Herkimer BOCES before, said there is a widespread need in the industry for equipment operators, truck drivers and laborers using the skills that students in the HERO program are learning.
“They need people all around this field,” he said.
Town of Herkimer Highway Superintendent Ken Ward (left) rakes as Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations senior Christopher Sherwood (right), of Little Falls City School District, dumps cold patch during repair work on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the BOCES parking lot.
From left, town of Herkimer Highway Superintendent Ken Ward and Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations seniors Bryan Webb (Richfield Springs), Olivia Bevins (Mount Markham) and Kaylee Walter (Little Falls) rake cold patch during repair work on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the BOCES parking lot.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations senior Christopher Sherwood, of Little Falls City School District, dumps cold patch during repair work on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the BOCES parking lot.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations senior Sean Murray, of Owen D. Young Central School District, dumps cold patch during repair work on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the BOCES parking lot.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations senior Maddox Walz, of Central Valley Central School District, does tamping work on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the BOCES parking lot.
Workers from the town of Herkimer Highway Department and students from the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations class conduct repair work on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the BOCES parking lot.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations senior Kolbi Hadden, of Dolgeville Central School District, does tamping work on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the BOCES parking lot.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations seniors Kaylee Walter (left, in front) from Little Falls City School District, and Olivia Bevins (right, in front) from Mount Markham Central School District.
Workers from the town of Herkimer Highway Department and students from the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations class conduct repair work on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the BOCES parking lot.
Workers from the town of Herkimer Highway Department and students from the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Heavy Equipment Repair Operations class conduct repair work on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the BOCES parking lot.