Senior Career & Tech Center students volunteer to
improve the Ithaca Dog Park
TST BOCES Career & Tech Center teacher, Ryan Walczak and his senior students in the Heavy Equipment program are putting their skills to use by volunteering to improve the Ithaca Dog Park. The 4.8 acre fenced park is located next to the marina at the Allen H. Treman State Marine. Working with John Guilford of the Ithaca Parks Department, the students embarked on a year-long project that will be sure to make local dogs dog-gone happy.
The planning started last year when the job site was engineered by the Parks Department. The Parks Department hauled in over one hundred tons of stone and all of the other materials that the students needed. Under their teacher’s supervision, the students began work which included site layout, calling dig safe NY to mark underground utilities, installing temporary fencing, blocking off parking lots, removing soil, installing drainage, creating stone pathways, extending water lines and lots of drainage work.
Mr. Walczak and his students are installing over 2,000 feet of walkways, adding more water hydrants, including one in the small dog park and paths that will lead to several areas with picnic tables. The students that Mr. Walczak had on-site were seniors, Stefann Anderson from Dryden, Billy Breed from Ithaca, Sam Martinez from Dryden, Luke Mignot from Ithaca, Mike Percy from South Seneca, Pat Perkins from Dryden, Tom Policay from Lansing and Shane Townley from Ithaca.
The students are using two different machines to accomplish the job. One is a John Deere backhoe that was purchased last year through a USDA grant for the Heavy Equipment program and the other is a Caterpillar skid steer that was donated for the length of the job by Beck Equipment (beckequipment.com), saving thousands of dollars in rental costs.
The job will continue until the snow flies and it becomes too wet or frozen to continue. The students will resume again in the Spring of 2010. Community members should be advised that although the park will remain open, there will be certain areas temporarily fenced off and they should stay clear of them. There may be a need to use temporary entrances to both the parking lot and the park gates so visitors should look out for those changes.
Mr. Walczak initiated this community service aspect into his classes so he could incorporate the use of both diesel mechanics and equipment operation. This has all been possible through the help of the Career & Tech principal Perry Dewey in helping secure the grant money and Director, Tony DiLucci for supporting Walczak’s new curriculum. The project is a great service to the Ithaca community and to their dogs. The students are getting a wonderful opportunity to gain valuable workplace experience while improving Ithaca’s parks.