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Picente,
School Partners Unveil
Utica
Zoo Projects
Built Through Summer Youth Employment Program
Oneida
County
Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr. was joined by school and community
officials today for an official opening for three projects at the Utica Zoo
built entirely by local teens as part of the Oneida County Summer Youth
Employment Program. Students designed and built homes for the Zoo’s
tortoise and the emu. Students also designed and built an arbor for hops to
grow upon.
“This summer, the young people involved in this project were very active
in making our community a better place through their vision and creativity
in designing these projects, their hours upon hours of hard work in building
them, and their dedication to making it right,” Picente said. “Through
the Oneida County Summer Youth
Program, they were not only workers, they were builders – builders of
better futures for themselves and the Utica Zoo.”
Picente praised the
Oneida-Herkimer-Madison
BOCES
School
and Business Alliance (SABA) and
Proctor High School Technology Teacher Rick Geers for providing outstanding
leadership for the students, and also thanked the Utica Zoo staff for
working with the youth. “The projects that were built for the Zoo were
clearly done to high standards, and that shows real leadership,” Picente
said. “Giving young people a challenge to design and build these projects,
and then working with them every step of the way shows outstanding effort to
help them learn from this experience. There was great interaction between
the Zoo staff and the young people all the way during this program. The Zoo
staff helped inspire the young people, and the students helped energize the
Zoo staff. This was a win-win for everyone.”
Howard D. Mettelman, District Superintendent of Oneida-Herkimer-Madison
BOCES, which oversees
SABA
, said the project was an outstanding example of project-based learning.
“This program not only showed
young people what it really takes to be successful in the construction
sector, it also helped them learn along the way about the things employers
tell us over and over again really matter – getting the math right, being
precise on measurements, working with determination to get it right, and
working as a team.
SABA
has long been part of the Oneida County Summer Youth Employment Program, and
we are happy to help young people learn and earn through activities that
help them and help the community.
Marilyn Skermont, Superintendent of Schools for the Utica School District,
noted that most of the students involved in the project were from Proctor
High School – where the project was located – said the completed
projects show the outstanding potential of Proctor students. “We all know
about ‘Proctor Pride’ when it comes to athletics, but here we see that
same pride in the construction of these projects,” she said. “The
students and teachers of
Proctor
High School
have shown time and time again that they can achieve excellence
in a wide number of activities, and now people who come to the Zoo will be
able to see that first-hand. We are proud to be a part of this program that
shows
Utica
’s students can build a better future for our city.”
Utica Zoo Executive Director Beth Irons thanked the county,
SABA
and – above all – the students for the work done on behalf of the Zoo.
“The projects that were built this summer provide some new homes for some
animals, improve our appearance and – best of all – continue the
wonderful connection that exists between the Zoo and the people of
Utica
. I know that our facilities staff was delighted with the energy of the
young people and their willingness to work hard. The students were a delight
to work with, and we hope that this summer’s work can be the start of a
long-term connection that helps us provide work experience for the
students.”
Students who built the projects were in
the Construction Trades Program developed by SABA
because the construction trades have been identified as one of the labor
market shortage areas in the
Mohawk
Valley
. By exposing students to the construction trades and giving them
on-the-job training, Mettelman said,
SABA
hopes that more students will consider a career in construction and become
part of the local workforce. Students in the program received pre-employment
training and career development from the SABA Career Specialists at
Proctor
High School
. The Construction Trades Project was one of several
community-based work experience projects that were part of the Oneida County
Summer Youth Employment Program, which provided about 300 area youth with
work experience opportunities this summer.
“We are building the workforce of the future by helping these young people
develop teamwork, learn skills, and
get involved in the community,” said Alice J. Savino, Executive Director
of the Workforce Investment Board. “The lessons – and the results – of
this summer’s work will still exist long after the summer is over.”
“These projects are excellent programs for the youth of
Oneida
County
,” Picente said. “The young people involved have the opportunity
to experience employment and make their own money. They also have the
chance to get to better know their community and to have actually built
something that makes the area stronger. Giving back to the community is
something we all can do; by working with the Zoo and its outstanding staff,
these youth have learned about responsibility and how to help the
community.”
“The Summer Youth Employment Program provides vital work experience for
teen-agers who would not have a job any other way,” said Oneida County
Workforce Development Director David Mathis, who noted that funding for the
program is appropriated annually by state government and has been strongly
supported by Gov. David Paterson, Sen. Joseph Griffo and Assemblywoman RoAnn
Destito. “I believe strongly in using this program to provide young people
with basic work lessons about teamwork, but also in using this to bolster
academic skills. Thanks to the funding we received from the state and the
support we received from the community, young people who would not otherwise
have had employment this summer learned about the world of work.”
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