Building trades students use classroom skills to create pavilion

Students in the building trades program at the Erie 1 BOCES Kenton Career and Technical Center took their classroom training to the real world, building a new pavilion at Tonawanda Volunteer Fireman's Park.

The biggest challenge as they created the 34-by-24-foot pavilion: Overcoming the weather conditions.

“It was snowing, raining, all in the same day,” said Camila Kelly, a senior from the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Union Free School District.

Michael Marrs, building trades instructor, said the center was approached by local fire officials to develop the new pavilion at the park, located on Two Mile Creek Road. The project, which took more than a month to complete, showed students some challenges they would face when working outside of the classroom, including the challenges “fighting mother nature” as it rained for more than a week straight during their work.

“We had to pump water to find the foundations,” Marrs said.

The students also had to carefully work through measurements at the site, including the layout of the posts.

“If that all wasn’t right, the building wouldn’t stand,” Marrs said.

The pavilion project, which was completed in late May, was an exciting way for students in the program to show what they had learned in their studies.

“It was tough in the beginning, but it was great to be on an actual job,” said Jonathan Goscinski, a senior from the Sweet Home Central School District.

About Erie 1 BOCES

As part of public education, Erie 1 BOCES offers a variety of career and technical programs during the regular school day to high school students in Erie County. High school students interested in learning more about how they can participate in various programs such as PTECH RACE, automotive tech or automotive collision, should visit www.e1b.org/cte or speak with their high school counselor.