Building trades students help demolish firehouse

BY PATRICIA KELLER
WEST MILFORD — The West Milford High School’s building trades class recently volunteered their time and put their classroom knowledge to practical use in a cooperative arrangement with the West Milford Fire Department.
Ten students, with their teacher working as their job supervisor, received “on the job” style experience through the demolition of the Macopin Fire Company No. 4’s meeting room and kitchen. Doreen Dransfield, who is the Business and Industrial Education and Technology supervisor and also an assistant principal at the high school, described the class’s arrangement with the Macopin Fire Department as “an exciting learning experience our building trades students will be involved in. Our students will be doing the demolition at the firehouse to help the firemen with the renovation project. It will benefit the community while enhancing the students’ education.”

Donevan LeMay is a senior at West Milford High School and has also been a volunteer with Macopin Fire Company #4 for the past two years. When Company 4 began discussing their need to renovate the firehouse meeting room and kitchen, Donevan saw an opportunity to arrange a mutually beneficial project between the community and high school through the building trades course he is currently enrolled in. He said the class is always seeking opportunities for hands-on experiences to practice the skills they are learning in the classroom.
“I saw a need and an opportunity, so I brought the idea to the fire department meeting,” he said.
Donevan also brought the idea to his building trades teacher, Stephen Beattie, who pitched it to Dransfield.
“Our class gains experience and it benefits the local Fire Department by us helping out.” Beattie, Dransfield, and Macopin Fire Company #4 President Mike Rosone all liked the idea, and they helped LeMay make the necessary arrangements.
According to Beattie, the building trades class is the only class at the high school that is a two-period long, 10 credit course. The class is currently comprised of 10 students- nine seniors and one junior. In order to be eligible to include the Building Trades class in their schedules, students first need to complete the prerequisite “Wood Processing 1” class, and provide a written recommendation from the instructor.
The building trades course is the next level, in which the students learn various aspects of residential construction and light commercial construction. The class provides the students with an introduction to foundation layout, blueprints and light construction, an introduction to building codes relevant to each trade, learning applicable terminology for each trade, and utilizing skills in realistic hands-on simulations and real-life projects. The instruction is split up in phases, including: demolition, house framing, house wiring, general construction, electrical, plumbing, masonry, sheetrock, heat, installing sink units and counter tops, appliances and more.
The building trades class students: Donevan LeMay, Craig Burgstahler, Dan Cano, Adrian Krassowski, Corey Kreutz, Garry Pugh, Liam Harrington, Benjamin Anthony, Sean Kelemen, and John Kerpel began their demolition work at the Macopin firehouse. It included removing sheetrock, managing wiring and plumbing, gutting the kitchen, removing cabinetry, and taking everything down to bare studs. Beattie said the class will also be building new windowsills and casings for the meeting room later during the renovation project.
For more photos from the day, go to westmilfordmessenger.com.