BOCES Students, Faculty and Staff Help a Schoharie Family Have a Happy Holiday

SCHOHARIE – Faculty, staff and students at the Capital Region BOCES Career & Technical Education Center – Schoharie Campus helped a family in Schoharie County have a happy holiday.

The students—members of the SkillsUSA organization on the campus—collected donations of gifts and toys to help a family the campus community adopted through the Joshua Foundation of Schoharie County.

SkillsUSA Advisors Kristen Rooney and Maureen Bernhardt said more than 30 presents were bought and donated to the family of six.

Students said they enjoyed helping a family in need.

“It's the right thing to do, especially this time of year. It felt good knowing you can make someone’s holiday better,” said Emily Gwozdz, a SkillsUSA officer and Sharon Springs student in the Electrical Trades program.

SkillsUSA is a national organization for career and technical education students that promotes personal and professional growth and offers them the opportunity to compete at the local, regional, state and national levels. Capital Region BOCES has more than 1,300 students taking part in the national organization, while also learning in one of the more than two-dozen academic programs, ranging from video game design to automotive trades to nursing offered to students this school year.