It doesn’t take much for him to admit working with students in the district ranks at the top of his list.

“Multiple buildings in the district have been designed and built by the building trades classes,” Wray said.

“In the last few years, they have built a shed that sits near Juniata High School, a shed that sits in front of East Juniata Elementary School, a roof over the batting cage at Juniata High School and now this really nice sidewalk,” Wray added.

Now, students in the building trades program have added another completed project to their portfolio. At the end of September, they laid out, formed and poured a concrete sidewalk to provide a safer and improved access to the restrooms from the softball and baseball field.

Photo from JUNIATA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Students Damon Batt (left) and Ian Yetter work on the sidewalk project at Juniata High School.

The students showed their true school spirit by taking ownership of the project, displaying their determination to improve the school while also putting their talents to work, Wray said.

Oh, and by the way, they probably saved the district several thousand dollars by completing the work. Plus, the experience they gained is priceless, Rob Klingler, building trades instructor explained.

“This was a great opportunity for the students to experience the process of a concrete sidewalk project from start to finish,” Klingler said. “Shooting grade, excavation, laying out and constructing forms, preparing the base with 2B stone, estimating materials, pouring and finishing the concrete, stripping forms, backfilling with topsoil and seeding grass.

“In my opinion, a hands-on project like this, greatly enhances the students’ learning experience,” Klingler added.

Projects like this provide on-the-job training, giving students the opportunity to apply their classroom learning to an actual task.

Klingler said the Juniata County Building Trades program would like to thank Wray and the school district for providing them with these types of hands-on opportunities. “We are looking forward to future hands-on work,” Klingler said.

Wray and other administrators and teachers applauded their efforts.

“The project was a great way to show the students the steps it takes to complete a concrete job,” Wray explained. “They really worked well with each other.”

And with Wray, too.

There’s no better way to learn than with on-the-job training. In fact, the project went so well that there might be future projects in the works.

He said, “I look forward to working with the students again.”