4. Artisan Imprint: Impacting Our Future

Lloyd Center, LBC Welcome Center – Students Build

Our students have been busy at the Lloyd Center constructing a state of the art Welcome Center. The Living Building Challenge Welcome
Center is a small building with an enormous impact as it is an environmentally friendly building and couples hand in hand with our school’s green initiative. GNB Voc-Tech is making history; our work is in alignment with international standards with fewer than 30 buildings certified worldwide. Upon completion, the building and our student artisans will receive state, national and international recognition.

When we arrived in the fall, our main focus was on the metal roof which required specific applications before the actual roofing product could be installed. Hold down anchors which were completed in part by donated equipment by HILTI along with various framing components throughout the building were constructed. The windows have been installed per the manufacturer’s specifications and were demonstrated in our carpentry shop on a mock up wall prepared by our students and will be displayed on site for guided walk through learning tours of the building over the summer months.

In addition to the actual construction, a variety of our other Career and Technical Programs have been instrumental in the process of our involvement in this project. Our Engineering students have designed a bicycle rack that will be at the site. Media Technology students have been monitoring the project with photos and video throughout its entirety which will contribute to the actual LBC certification. Visual Design students will be composing signage and imagery to be displayed at the center and our architectural mill room will be preparing material to be installed onsite. GNB Voc-Tech is excited to continue our involvement with such a groundbreaking project in the months to come.

Seniors Wins 2nd in Video Competition

Media technology senior Olivia Benoit competed in Association for Career and Technical Education’s national video competition to celebrate
Career Technical Education month. The ACTE paired with NASA Hunch held a video competition, open to all Vocational high schools in the country. With the help of other GNB students and faculty, Olivia was able to create a fictional but educational video about CTE in space.

Students from Mechanical Design, Stationary Engineering, Architectural Design, Engineering and Robotics, Electrical, Welding, Information Technology, and Media Technology were all featured in the video. Each career and technical area had the opportunity to showcase how their career technical and education would benefit NASA’s expedition in space. Out of 39 submissions from all over the country, GNB Voc-Tech’s video placed second and was promoted in ACTE’s social media and weekly newsletter. Congratulations to everyone involved in this proj- ect. If you would like to learn more about ACTE, visit acteonline.org. More information about NASA Hunch can be found at nasahunch.com.

Students Raise $1,500 at Polar Plunge

As part of the United Way’s Community Impact Grant that supports the GNB Voc-Tech Student Mentor Program, students at GNB Voc-Tech accepted the Polar Plunge challenge to support Special Olympics. Student Mentors, members of the National Honor Society and Rachel’s Challenge all participated and raised over $1,500 for the cause.

The Polar Plunge is a wonderful event that helps raise funds for Special Olympics Massachusetts, the state’s largest year-round organization devoted to sports and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The plunge is sponsored by the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.

The event took place at East Beach, New Bedford at 11 am and lasted a couple of hours. The day began with breakfast. During
breakfast, NBPD Sergeant Joshua Fernandes and Ellie Machado of Special Olympics Massachusetts spoke to the participants about the cause and safety for afternoon’s activities. Then, it was time for the plunge. According to Media Technology Sophomore students, Hunter Johnson and Jirelys Figueroa, the entire crowd experienced a mixed bag of emotions — nerves and absolute excitement! Johnson claims that she couldn’t feel her legs after the plunge. At the end of the event, awards were given to those who had the best costume, people with the most spirit and those who raised the most money. The students of Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech did an amazing job representing our school and were proud to raise funds for such an important cause.

BPA Students donate 500 Bears to Bears Care Project

On December 20, 2018, our Business Professionals of America chapter officers spread some holiday cheer by participated in a community service project, called Bears Care. The Bears Care project allowed students to distribute over 500 stuffed bears to the New Bedford Police Department, Fairhaven Police Department, Department Children and Families, Child and Family Services, Scarlett Rainho’s “Better Person Club”, Fun107/WBSM1420, Boston’s Children Hospital, Pediatrics Unit at Hawthorne Medical and Pediatrics Unit at St. Luke’s Hospital. The Bears Care project brought comfort and joy this past holiday season.