During the third marking period, an all-star team of students from the masonry and carpentry shops at Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School, (BAVTS) worked on building a brick veneer wall. The project involved planning for materials, patterns and measurements. Team members Dylan Sloss (FHS-12), Jacob Seeds (FHS-12), Platon Torounidis (LHS-11), Rian Sunday (LHS-12), Brandon Koch (NHS-12), Xander Shultz (NHS-12), Zachary Rickert (NHS-11), Michael Whiteman (SV-11), Ethan Gasper (NHS-11), Alec Gauss (LHS-12), and David Doncsecz (LHS-12) collaborated on the project.

Key project elements involved laying out and marking all dimensions, organizing and placing all materials, such as the block, both types of brick, weep vents, wall ties, and mortar. The aspiring masons utilized a running bond for the majority of their design, alternating red and white bricks. The finishing touch to the project was to incorporate a serpentine (wavy) retaining wall with piers capped with handmade concrete slabs. The carpentry students installed aluminum fascia and vinyl soffit on the project. These tasks included measuring, marking and cutting the various materials with snips, knives and saws.

To start, the team laid out the dimensions for the veneer. Next, they installed story poles and marked the height of each course of brick. The team laid a three-course block knee wall in a running bond pattern, followed by waterproofing the structure with flashing and vapor barrier along with mortar net to stop any excess mortar from filling the cavity. Students laid the brick veneer wall, placing weep vents every third brick to drain moisture from the wall. They alternated between red and white every other brick, using a running bond pattern for the majority of the wall. White rowlock brick was laid for the windowsill. The top five courses were header bricks, laid in a pattern called dental. The doorway was framed block, which was bridged with an angle iron lintel. Stucco was applied to the block frame and knee wall. The students completed the project with a serpentine flower bed wall topped with a course of corbeled solid red brick. Decorative piers were constructed and capped with handmade concrete slabs at the entrance. Finally, they filled the retaining wall with sand and tarped over a small ditch to form a pond that was filled with water, then placed real stone around the pond and the sand pits for decoration.

The instructors for the programs are Jon Sullivan, carpentry, and Robert Kulick, masonry.

On April 8, the Pennsylvania State SkillsUSA competition was held in Hershey. The following BAVTS students were medal winners.

Action Skills: Meghan Scherer, FHS-12, Silver; Basic Healthcare Skills, Jaelyn Santiago, FHS-12, Silver; Medical Math: Sophia Walker, FHS-11, Bronze; Plumbing, Daniel Millhouse, LHS-12, Gold; Precision Machining Technology: Gabriel Horn, NHS-11, Gold; TeamWorks (Team of 4), Charles Breidenbach and Noah Wolfel, NHS-12, Zachary Rickert, NHS-11, Cody Trauger, LHS-12, Gold; Web Design, Yandel Gonzalez, LHS-12, and Cameron Vaughn, FHS-11, Gold.

A shout out to National Technical Honor Society members Nalani Ricketts and Sophia Walker, both juniors from Freedom HS, for the amazing job painting the numbers on the parking spots.

Another community service endeavor HOSA Future Health Professionals students participated in was the American Heart Association Heart of Lehigh Valley & Berks Celebration held April 9 at Historic Hotel Bethlehem. Students donned their red evening gowns and volunteered their time for setup and assisted in various capacities.

HOSA Future Health Professionals State Leadership Conference was held at Valley Forge Convention Center, March 30 to April 1. Forty-one competitors and two delegates represented our school. There were over 20 students who placed in the top 10. Advancing to international HOSA competition are Shane Yardumian, SVHS-11, Third place, Medical Reading; Jaelyn Santiago, FHS-12, Second Place, Personal Care; and Elizabeth Deily, SVHS-10, First Place, Interviewing Skills.