For the last few weeks, some Career & Technical Education students were applying their skills to holiday items– including decorations for in front of the Pole Campus (installed Monday!).
Some of the elementary students had fun building houses Tuesday– gingerbread houses, that is!
There were some festive outfits worn around Pole Campus yesterday.....!
Check out the “Anything But Hair” project at the Pole Campus Cosmetology and Barbering program! In this annual project, Ms. Chabot, Ms. Smith and Mrs. Ryan encourage the students’ creativity: students get a blank styrofoam mannequin and have to develop a concept and execute a finished design.
On Friday, Security & Law Enforcement students at Harrold Campus had science with Mr. Wetmore. Their lesson was on the science behind fire extinguishers, how they work, what types for what fires, and why. Following that, they got a hands-on reinforcement of the lesson when they went outside and used the training fire extinguishers on a simulated fire.
This elementary science lesson was a fun candy cane experiment at Pole Campus Monday!
Students in Career & Technical Education programs have done a beautiful job creating and decorating Christmas trees this year! Thank you, Cosmetology & Barbering, Welding, Conservation, Early Childhood, Visual Communications, Computer Technology, Security & Law, and CNA!
Security and Law Enforcement students at the Harrold Campus found a creative way to apply some of their skills, crafting fingerprint ornaments to decorate their tree (aka “Evidence Marker #10,” aka “countdown to winter break”).
Our students at the Pole Campus enjoy checking in to see what our visiting Elf and his buddy are up to each day. What's next ...?!
The State Police visited the Auto Technology Lab at Pole Campus Wednesday with their roll over simulator, impairment goggles, and State Police K9 Matti. Several different classes were able to attend a demonstration and try the goggles, and Ms. LaFever’s 5th and 6th graders had a special visit with the State Police K9 dog Matti. Thanks to Trooper Grigoli from Troop C in Sidney, and Trooper May and Matti from Binghamton. We look forward to having them visit again in the future to share this very important message of safety. The career connections were amazing for our CTE students! The visit was organized by Career Counselor Megan Scrivner.
School librarians gathered at the DCMO BOCES Support Services Center this week as part of a year-long professional learning course in Media Literacy. They’ll learn how to decode media messages across a range of grade-levels and subject areas, and bring these skills back to their schools to share with their peers and promote media literacy across the curriculum. The Professional Learning is being provided by Christopher Sperry, from Ithaca College and Project Look Sharp.
A recent feature story on WBNG-TV news celebrated the accomplishment of Raymond Corporation welder Jordan Taft, a graduate of the DCMO BOCES Welding program. It includes comments from his DCMO BOCES welding instructor, Jaan Aarismaa. Way to go, Jordan! https://www.wbng.com/2023/12/12/raymond-corp-welder-greene-brings-home-gold-international-skills-competition/
On December 4th, barbers from Bespoke Barbershop in Binghamton came to the Pole Campus to educate the Barbering students in Mrs. Ryan’s class. The three barbers performed haircuts on students from other programs. It was a great experience for the kids to watch how they do consultations and cut hair. Thank you Ben, Jason and Ian for coming to Norwich to do a class for us!
The Cosmetology classes at Harrold Campus hosted a guest speaker last week. Joséh from Pretty in a Minute, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, demonstrated their company's state-of-the-art hot tools (curling irons and hair dryers), with education and instruction on usage. The students got some great tips from this dynamic presenter!
Members of the DCMO BOCES Public Information Service and Communications Team visited the Fab Lab at the Oxford Academy CSD Middle School today. Frank Oliver, Mat White, Dean Russin, P.J. Harmer, Zach Meseck, Kathryn Rutz, Annette Bagnall and Scott Jensen got a tour and explanation from Middle School Principal Gregory Lehr and Fab Lab Manager Scott Donahue, as well as the students themselves, who were happy to show off their projects. What an amazing educational resource!
DCMO BOCES Career Connections returns to Harrold Campus on January 24 (snow date 1/29) and Pole Campus January 25 (snow date 2/5). Students will attend a series of presentations with local employers to help expand their awareness of local jobs and career opportunities and grow their career preparation skills. It’s an exciting day of career preparations and connections, featuring many local employers– mark your calendars! Industry and business professionals interested in speaking at this event can contact Martha Ryan at ryanm@dcmoboces.com or call 607-335-1292.
Jordan Taft, a graduate of the Welding program at DCMO BOCES Alan D. Pole Campus in Norwich, recently won gold in the welding category of the international Toyota Material Handling Group (TMHG) Skills Competition. Taft is a welder at The Raymond Corporation in Greene, NY, part of the Toyota Industries family of companies. He competed against other welders from Toyota Industries material handling facilities in China, France, Italy, Sweden and the United States.
According to a media release from the company, the competition consists of welding a steel pressure vessel, which required performing tack welding, executing semiautomatic welding and finishing the vessel’s surface. “It was an honor to represent Raymond in the competition and secure the gold,” Taft said. “I’m proud to work for a company that values the skilled trades, such as welding, and provides opportunities for skills advancement.”
“Jordan actually earned the highest score of any competitor ever,” according to Jaan Aarismaa, Welding Instructor at DCMO BOCES Pole Campus. “Very proud of our alumni!”
The Wellness Committee sponsored a glass ornament-making workshop for employees at the Alan D. Pole Campus Thursday night, and there was a lot of creativity on display! Participants could make 2 glass ornaments, working with glass and flame under the guidance of instructors from The Studio For Art and Craft.
On November 9, 2023, members from the Security and Law Enforcement class from Harrold Campus attended a trip to New York City to the 9/11 Museum and Memorial. The students participated in a guided tour of the Museum, viewing artifacts from the site, as well as learning the history, significance, and impact of these items as they related to 9/11.
We’re celebrating Mentorship Month throughout November with a series of mentoring success stories from the Regional Mentoring Program, including this spotlight on one of the volunteer mentors.
Tommy Kane, Commercial Banking Specialist at NBT Bank in Norwich, heard about the mentoring program at work and thought it sounded interesting, so he applied. He was disappointed when it looked like there wouldn’t be a student for him to mentor right away, but delighted when he got tapped to step in on short notice: he’d get to be a mentor this year after all, and just as importantly, he willingness to step up allowed a student to stay in the program.
His interest in mentoring came from his own positive mentoring experience at work. “I did a management development program at NBT, and we had mentors. I always thought it was kind of interesting, helping somebody go through their career, or go through life, and give them advice or really, just listen,” he said. “It thought mentoring would be a good way to give back.”
Kane worked with one student, conducting their meetings during his workday via Zoom. Even though this mentoring relationship only spanned a few meetings, he found the experience satisfying. “I just kind of like talking with people and hearing what they’re dealing with, and potentially help them find some solutions,” he said. Mentoring requires a degree of commitment from both parties, and Kane was impressed with the student that he worked with. “She showed that she was very driven to find a career in the finance industry, which I’m in, and she was just very prepared and easy to work with.”
He had praise for both the mentoring program and its coordinator, Martha Ryan, DCMO BOCES School and Community Liason. “Overall, it’s run really well, and I thought Martha did a really good job,” he said. “They had a little ceremony at the end, we got nice awards – mine’s hanging in my office now – and just did a nice job making us feel like we’d done a good thing.”
Kane is happy that the experience went well, and even more pleased that he’s able to continue in the role of a mentor. “I’m actually a mentor for one of the new management development associates (at NBT), so it’s all come full circle,” he said.
The mentoring program will now be coordinated by Commerce Chenango, Delaware County Chamber of Commerce and Otsego Chamber of Commerce. For more information on how to become a mentor, visit the chamber organizations’ website. For students’ access to mentoring services or to learn more about mentoring support, visit www.dcmoboces.com.
