New Faculty, Staff to Share Expertise with BOCES CTE Students

ALBANY/SCHOHARIE - Five new faculty members will greet Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical Education (CTE) students for the 2025-26 school year.

The new teachers bring a wealth of experience in the industries they will be teaching. 

New CTE faculty members include Adriane Ball, who is teaching Cosmetology; Samuel DiPrete, who is teaching Electrical Trades;  Karen “Kema” Maxwell, who is teaching Global Fashion; Craige Ohlstein who is teaching Plumbing; and Eric Smith, who is the new Criminal Justice teacher.

Many of the new faculty members have at least two decades of experience in the industry they are now preparing high school students to enter.  

Among them is Ohlstein, who is a master plumber and owner of Pipewerks Plumbing LLC, and Ball who is owner of Fringe Hair Salon in Malta and who has also taught at Paul Mitchell The School in Schenectady and served as a New York state board examiner for both the cosmetology and esthetics exams.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to know I’m helping shape the next generation of professionals - not just their technical abilities, but in their work ethic, creativity, and self-belief,” Ball said.

For Ohlstein, BOCES is providing an opportunity for fulfillment on the professional level. 

“I’ve always enjoyed teaching and instructing technicians that worked for me. Seeing them learn and grow has always been very fulfilling,” he said.

The 2025-26 school year opens tomorrow, with hundreds of area juniors and seniors enrolled in classes at the Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical Education Center.

The center offers 29 programs, including Global Fashion, on its Albany, Schoharie and CTE Extension Center campuses and several off-campus locations, such as Proctors, St. Peter’s Hospital and Bellevue Woman's Center.