The Tech Times | February 2026

OHM BOCES students recently competed at the SkillsUSA New York Area II Regional Conference at SUNY Morrisville. P-TECH student Cacey Confer, of the Whitesboro Central School District, placed first in Extemporaneous Speaking!

This competition requires students to give a three- to five- minute speech. They are assigned a topic, then have only five minutes to prepare. Judges score on mechanics, voice, organization of the speech and overall effectiveness.

Congratulations, Cacey!

Two P-TECH OHM students recently performed at the Area All-State event held in the Camden Central School District. Students from across Oswego, Oneida and Herkimer counties gathered for the 2026 New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Zone 4 festival at the end of January. Among the elite group of performers were Cassidy Kerr and Jasmine Colon, both P-TECH OHM students from the Remsen Central School District.

Selection for Area All-State is no small feat. Students must earn one of the highest scores in the region during the NYSSMA evaluations to receive an invitation. The festival provided these students a unique opportunity to learn under guest directors and collaborate with high-achieving peers from 15 different schools.

Congratulations to Cassidy and Jasmine!

Throughout the month of February, P-TECH OHM students created valentines for residents staying at the Presbyterian Residential Center. On Feb. 13, students visited the residents to pass out the valentines, help serve lunch, and spend some quality time with them. The residents' faces lit up with smiles as soon as the group arrived! They had plenty of questions for the students and were excited to get to know them. They also passed on wisdom from their own life experiences. Thank you, Mrs. Colantuoni, for organizing this adventure for our students!

On Feb. 12, Mohawk Valley Community College held an induction ceremony for the Lambda Beta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK). This is the international honor society for two-year colleges. To earn this distinction, students who have at least 12 credit hours in their degree program must maintain at least a 3.5 GPA. The following P-TECH students were inducted this year:

• Elijah Allen | Holland Patent Central School District
• Cacey Confer | Whitesboro Central School District
• Richard Chambrone | New Hartford Central School District
• Skylar DesMarais | New York Mills Union Free School District
• Hailey Dudek | Whitesboro Central School District
• Hailey Fedor | Utica City School District
• Carson Gulseth | Whitesboro Central School District
• Molly Jordan | New York Mills Union Free School District
• Ayden Knoblauch | New Hartford Central School District
• Ethan LaBuz | Clinton Central School District
• Elliott Moore | Clinton Central School District

• Gabriyel Mykel | New Hartford Central School District

P-TECH student Gavyn Toepp, who is the current Vice President for Leadership in PTK, helped at the ceremony. Congratulations, everyone! Click the link below to check out the article from MVCC!

P-TECH STEAM teacher Mrs. Piatkowski challenged her students to design, simulate and construct a bridge that is as efficient as it is sturdy. Students started with three thumbnail drawings to brainstorm various truss designs. Once they chose their primary concepts, they moved into the digital realm using the West Point Bridge Designer (WPBD) software. This allowed students to test their designs virtually, identifying potential points of failure before moving to the construction phase. To ensure professional accuracy, students also created detailed orthographic projections of their designs on graph paper, providing clear blueprints for their physical builds.

For the construction phase, students must adhere to a strict set of rules:

• Dimensions: The bridge must span exactly 10 inches, stand 3 inches tall, and be 2 inches wide.
• Materials: Construction is limited to twenty 2-foot pieces of 1/8" x 1/8" balsa wood, Elmer's Glue, and small paper reinforcements.
• Design Features: Each bridge must be symmetrical and include a 1-inch hole through the middle.
• Reinforcements: Paper reinforcements can be no larger than 1/4" x 1/4".

The project culminated in a test to see how much force each bridge can withstand before breaking. The winner is the bridge design that maintains the best strength-to-weight ratio. At the conclusion of the project, students will reflect on the process. They will analyze their design choices, describe the hurdles the faced during construction, and explain why their bridge succeeded or failed. Thank you, Mrs. Piatkowski, for implementing this hands-on project with our students!

P-TECH PRIDE represents the program's core principles of Partnership, Respect, Innovation, Diversity and Excellence. Approximately once per month, the program steps away from regularly scheduled classes to provide programming focused on these core principles.

To start our PRIDE Day, all students participated in a "Reality Fair." They received job assignments, yearly salaries, housing assignments, and a random number of children, among other variables. This allowed them the opportunity to practice budgeting and to have a glimpse into adulthood. Thank you to our partners at OHM BOCES School to Career Programs, First Source FCU, The Hartford, MV EDGE, and SUNY Polytechnic Institute for planning and hosting tables during the event!

P-TECH sophomores got a visit from the Daneli Partners once again. They reviewed Clifton Strengths and talked about how these impact their careers. Thank you to the Daneli Partners for your work with our students!

To end the day, the P-TECH Elevating Student Voices team ran discussion circles with their peers. They engaged in deep conversations about microaggressions and shared personal perspectives. Check out the photos below!

On Wednesday, Apr. 29, stop by SweetFrog on Clinton Street in New Hartford to support P-TECH OHM! SweetFrog will donate 20% of sales between 4-8 p.m. to P-TECH! Show the flyer in the restaurant or mention P-TECH by name to participate. Click below for a copy of the flyer. Thank you for your support!

Freshman | Azizah Binti Mohamad Yassin: Azizah is from the Utica City School District. Peers and staff alike note Azizah's strong work ethic. She leads by example, putting forth significant effort into her academics. Azizah is an excellent team member as well, going above and beyond to help her teammates.

Sophomore | Nevaeh-Rose Vivacqua: Nevaeh is from the New York Mills Union Free School District. Nevaeh is exceptionally kind to everyone around her. She brings positive energy to her classes every day. Nevaeh also participates in class discussions and stays focused during independent work.

Junior | Xavier Buchanan: Xavier is from the Westmoreland Central School District. Teachers point out that Xavier works very hard on his assignments. He gets along well with everyone around him. Additionally, Xavier is always engaged in his work, often completing his assignments early.

A partnership between the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES, Mohawk Valley Community College, and Mohawk Valley EDGE.

🌐 www.oneida-boces.org/ptech | ☎️ 315.793.8666 | 🔗 LinkedIn

🗺️ 4747 Middle Settlement Road, New Hartford, NY 13413