NEW BEDFORD – Through a series of projects, students from Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School are teaming up to demonstrate patriotism and community service and to promote career and technical education. The students are taking part in the SkillsUSA “American Spirit” competition.

The students include Jonathan Alves and Sarah Lopes, both majoring in Legal and Protective Services, and Miriah Wilde, majoring in Fashion Design. All three are sophomores.

Mr. Alves lives in Fairhaven. Ms. Lopes and Ms. Wilde live in New Bedford.

“We’ve very proud of these students and what they’ve done,” said Kellie Martin, the Legal and Protective Services teacher at GNB Voc-Tech who serves as one of the advisors for the school’s “American Spirit” competition.

For his community service project, Jonathan Alves is visiting area schools and teaching I-Safe. I-Safe is a program geared at teaching children and the parents about how to stay safe on the Internet. Topics include online predators, cyber bullying, intellectual property rights, and piracy.

For her patriotism and citizenship project, Sarah Lopes has focused on assisting the Veterans Transition House in New Bedford. She has collected books for its library and has done baking over the holidays. In addition, she and her classmates raised over $500 to purchase toiletries for the Transition House.

For her project promoting career and technical education, Miriah Wilde is working with Operation Quiet Comfort, a non-profit group that creates quilts for American soldiers who are stationed overseas. Ms. Wilde is constructing a quilt made out of 96 denim squares, all with inspirational messages from students. In addition, she is getting students to put messages on 700 additional squares which will be sent back to Operation Quiet Comfort and assembled into additional quilts.

The American Spirit award recognizes SkillsUSA chapters for community service, citizenship projects and those with patriotic overtones which demonstrate a belief in the American way of life.

The award was established to recognize SkillsUSA chapters for conducting outstanding projects that best demonstrate the purpose and goals of SkillsUSA.

All projects must be planned, organized and carried out by students. SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization serving teachers and high school and college students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations, including health occupations.