North Adams Students Support Hometown Heroes Banner Program
Drury High civics students Olivia Irace, Gabriella Packard and Paige Burdick spearheaded the project for their class.
"It is super exciting for me," Veterans Agent Kurtis Durocher said. "It saves us money, and more importantly, it gets students involved. You really can't put a value on that."
The Veterans Services Department plans to install the banners downtown to honor local service members. The project was well underway last year; however, the old brackets used to hang banners on city light posts were in poor condition.
Durocher reached out to McCann Superintendent James Brosnan last fall, hoping the school could assist.
"I asked if it was something they would be interested in. We needed these brackets, and I thought it would be a great project for the students," Durocher said. "Jim, being a veteran himself, jumped on it. So within two weeks, we had a meeting."
Durocher needed 100 brackets to support banners for 50 veterans. He noted that the students saved his department nearly $6,500, with McCann supplying all the necessary materials.
While the new brackets are similar to the ones currently on Main Street, the design has been significantly improved. Computer assisted design (CAD) instructor Joshua Meczywor said students reverse-engineered the existing hardware to create a sturdier version.
"The students did all the work as far as designing, modeling, making the drawings, and then actually cutting everything. Fabricating, welding everything," Meczywor said. "... The last ones lasted long enough that they don't know who made them, and these, personally, I think are better quality."
Metal fabrication instructor Glenn Andrews explained that the old brackets were prone to rusting, allowing water to seep in. The new student-led designs are intended to be watertight.
"We are always looking for something, but we don't want to take jobs that the students can't do — that is not the point of this," Andrews said. "So we try to help the community, especially something like this, for the vets. What better way to honor them? Doing this work for them. But this saves the community money, and the students get the experience."
The hardware will be powder-coated and is expected to last indefinitely. Junior Ben Therrien described the phased approach the class took to the design.
"We started with a concept of what are we trying to do? What are we trying to fix? We moved on to the modeling phase, where we made the mock of those pieces," Therrien said.
Once the design was finalized, production moved quickly. Sophomore Lucas Lapointe noted that the pipe cutting and threading took only about 40 to 60 seconds per piece.
For freshman Colby Gelinas, the project carried extra weight because it would be on public display.
"It is also showing everyone how good your work is," Gelinas said. "Triple tacking everything. If you're doing measurements, any type of bending, we made sure it was perfect before we did any more …veterans do a lot for us, and I'm just happy to be able to do something for them."
Junior Jaxson Cunha echoed that sentiment, noting there was no room for error.
"We don't have any room for failure. You can make a simple mistake on a practice piece … but with this: do it, get it done, and get it done the right way because we know how to do it the right way."
Andrews said that sense of responsibility is the goal of the curriculum.
"This is as real-world as it gets. I could have worked at a metal shop and get this job," he said. "For those of you who are going to pursue this and do this, it's going to be the same thing. You get trained a certain way. You have a certain expectation and you have certain knowledge about what the end product is. You collaborate and work together with a team."
Durocher visited McCann with Mayor Jennifer Macksey this winter to thank the students personally.
"The mayor and I both spent more time discussing it with them and everyone involved," Durocher said. "They kind of understood the importance and kind of understood that you know when you drive by these. You can look at them and say, 'I helped do that,' which is kind of what I wanted. If we can get the younger generation doing this kind of stuff."
Just up the hill, Patrick Boulger's civics class at Drury High School was busy with the second half of the initiative. Boulger recognized a service-learning opportunity in the project — a type of engagement the school is working to bring back to the forefront.
While Boulger initially suggested the class write short biographies for each veteran, the students had a more ambitious vision.
"They came back and asked, 'Well, why don't we do a website?' and I almost fell off the desk," Boulger said. "I was so impressed with their forward thinking, and their ability and willingness to get involved in this community."
The banners will feature ground-level QR codes that link directly to the student-produced website. To build the content, the class generated a list of questions to connect with local families.
Student Olivia Irace said they worked with the Veterans Services Office to identify families interested in participating. Student Gabriella Packard added that they used a sticker system to organize veterans by military branch and era of service, ensuring continuity among the different student workgroups.
The website, which will be hosted on the North Adams Public Schools (NAPS) domain, was built entirely by the students. Student Paige Burdick said it was the most challenging part of the process.
"Yeah, it was difficult at first, but once we got the hang of it, it became really easy," she said. "Everything kind of fell into place."
To make the site more user-friendly, the students implemented an "accordion menu" to keep information organized and readable. Beyond the technical skills, Boulger said the real impact came from the stories the students uncovered.
"As a teacher, there's so much learning going on. Just listening to them in terms of hearing them read those responses when they're writing the responses on the website," Boulger said. "They say, 'Oh my god, this guy fought here, this guy fought there.' It is history within itself. It's civics and history taught naturally."
For some, the project hit close to home. Packard found herself reading the history of one of her father's friends.
"It is heart-warming, and it touches you in a way because you realize what they went through," Packard said.
Irace gained a new perspective on the sacrifices made by previous generations.
"I read about someone who was drafted when they were 17. Because they lied about their age because they wanted to be with their brothers," Irace said. "Imagine being 17 and being drafted? That would change your life so much."
Burdick even discovered local lore, reading about a veteran who once played baseball with Babe Ruth at Noel Field.
"I really thought that was interesting, and the family wanted to be interviewed," Burdick said. "So I am very excited about that and learning more about that legacy."
The students' dedication has turned the project into a passion.
"I think this project just means a lot to us," Packard said. "We come to school every day looking forward to it … It is addictive."
The group plans to continue its work by conducting live interviews with local veterans to add more depth to the digital archive.
"I feel like just learning about it, you just read what you need to read, but here, as we fill it out, we're reading each form, we're talking to each other about it, and some people we are going to interview," Irace said. "We can see their point of view on it instead of just from a piece of paper. You can hear what they feel and see what a typical day was like for them."
Boulger hopes the community sees the heart these students have put into their work, countering negative stereotypes about today's youth.
"Yes, it is a school project. Yes, there is a grade behind it. But there is a much bigger meaning behind it," Boulger said. "It's personal. It's real, and I hope that the community sees all these wonderful things that they're doing … I get to see it every day, so I consider myself spoiled, but a lot of people don't hear the positive. They just hear the negative, and I'm here to tell you, and these kids are here doing great work."
The Hometown Heroes banners will be officially unveiled on May 22, just in time for Memorial Day.
Tags: civics, Drury High, McCann, veterans,
