Despite the pandemic and a limited number of students, the BHS Career Skills Class remains as busy as ever. Out of 14 students in the program, they only have 8 in the building every day, but they still wanted to make sure they continue to connect with the community. So, the dedicated teachers and hardworking students were able to do the following:

• Hosted Assistant Principal Lauren Cole’s baby shower for the high school, making handmade onesies and all the decorations.
• They participated in a “Pen Pals Program” and created handmade Fall/Thanksgiving/Holiday Crafts for the residents at the Waterview Hills Rehabilitation and Healthcare in Purdy’s New York. The Career Skills Class has been so excited about connecting with the residents there, many of whom have had less interaction with the outside world since COVID-19.
• In honor of World Kindness Day on November 13th, the BHS Career Skills Class designed and sold “Bears Choose Kind” masks and then funnelled all the proceeds back into the community. Part of the proceeds were used to purchase pantry staples that were donated to fill the Little Free Pantry run by senior Nora Paladino. The group visited the pantry in town and managed to fill it three times before Thanksgiving. They also purchased all of the food donations from Kobackers and Putnam Lake Market to “give back” to the community.
• The group also adopted four families from Friends of Karen for the holidays, purchasing holiday gifts for those local families with children that are suffering from cancer.

And they are not stopping there. For their next project, they have been surveying all BCSD employees to see if they have family members (children and or spouses) that are essential workers/first responders. The students and teachers of the Career Skills Class are gathering the names, along with every BCSD employee, in order to say “Thank You” for their service. They will be creating thank you cards and purchasing car magnets to show our appreciation in the coming months.

Clearly, there is no slowing down for this group, and the school and community feels their strong impact. We thank them for all that they do to make this difficult time a little easier!

Thank you to Ms. Barnes for her help with this article!