Building More Than Birdhouses
Photo provided by WSWHE BOCES.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Building birdhouses can be a fun and rewarding DIY project. Taking that idea one step further on May 9, students in Ian Hamilton’s WSWHE BOCES Career & Technical Education (CTE) construction trades program provided a sneak peek of the 16 feet by 8 feet birdhouse they built as part of the Fifth Annual Ballston Spa Birdhouse Program. The Village of Ballston Spa Mayor Frank Rossi, Curtis Lumber Vice President of Sales Doug Ford, and WSWHE BOCES administrators were in attendance.
Over 1,000 birdhouses have been built by students from Ballston Spa Middle School, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Middle School and Schuylerville Middle School, as well as community members, using kits and supplies donated by Curtis Lumber and the Capital Region Workforce Development Coalition. The coalition seeks to raise awareness of the trades as a viable career option for students. 350 of the 1,000 birdhouses will be mounted onto the large birdhouse as a display of community pride and engagement.
“The large birdhouse the CTE students built can be seen as a symbol of what is possible through skilled trades, as it requires precision and craftsmanship to construct a functional and aesthetically pleasing structure for our feathered friends,” said Doug Ford, who heads the Capital Region Workforce Development Coalition.
The large bird house was built in two sections. The wood was donated by both Curtis Lumber and the Saratoga County Department of Aging and Youth. The structure will be transported from F. Donald Myers Education Center on Henning Road during the week of May 15 to Ballston Spa by Curtis Lumber. The Ballston Spa Village DPW staff will install the display in Wiswall Park. Penelope, the giant bird that is seen in the photos, will be carefully placed on the roof of the large bird house. The art installation will be the focal point of the Ballston Spa Birdhouse Festival which takes place on June 11 from 11 to 4 p.m., with a rain date of June 18. Each year an artist creates a new design for the Wiswall Park central display element.