Assabet Holds 2017 Hall of Achievement Induction

From Assabet: Area. Assabet held the annual Program Advisory Appreciation Dinner on Wednesday, May 3, catered by the school’s Culinary Arts department, to thank the members of each department’s Program Advisory Council. These groups of industry specialists meet with the technical departments on a regular basis to make suggestions as to equipment, software, curriculum, etc., ensuring that our students are preparing for the highest industry standards with state of the art information and tools. At the conclusion of the dinner, Principal Mark Hollick introduced the 2017 inductees to the Hall of Achievement. This year’s group included six new members, four as former staff or students, and 2 as Significant Contributors to the school.

John Walsh, a 1979 graduate of the House Carpentry program, was an outstanding student in Carpentry as well as being a member of the National Honor Society at Assabet. He is the proud owner of the very successful Scotia Woodworking in Stow, MA, where Walsh’s specialty is creating and building trade-show exhibits.

Brian Clemmer, a 1994 graduate of the Auto Technology program, actually began working at the age of fourteen at Ben’s Gulf Station. His love for auto mechanics carried him to Northwestern College in Lima, Ohio, and back to the area when he opened Wheeler’s Garage in Berlin. To this day, he attributes his success to his aptitude and honesty, both traits he felt were reinforced in him as a student at Assabet.

Former Drafting instructor Bernhard Jensen graduated from the Machine Shop at Marlborough Vocational School, and from there honed his drafting skills at Raytheon. Jensen began teaching manual drafting at Assabet in 1977 and continued until 1982 when he decided to go back into industry to be trained on Computer Aided Drafting, at that time a new concept. In 1989, he returned to share those new skills with Assabet students until finally retiring in 1996. While at Assabet, he was one of the initial mentors of our FIRST Robotics team, and also coached girls’ track for five years.

Marie LeDuc served Assabet students in two capacities over her thirty-three years at the school. In 1983, LeDuc became a cashier in the school cafeteria, and then in 2000 she became the Custodial Matron until her retirement in 2016. Besides keeping the school in pristine condition, LeDuc came to know most of the students by name, always greeting everyone with a smile, and genuinely caring about how their day was going. LeDuc’s commitment, kindness, and sincerity were obvious on a daily basis. As she was presented with her award, she was treated to a spontaneous standing ovation from the crowd.

Samantha Brown is an Assistant Manager for TD Bank in Marlborough, and has served as the Chairperson of the Business Technologies Program Advisory Council for eight years. Additionally, she teaches a ten week Financial Literacy Program to the students, assists seniors with their Senior Project, and often provides guest speakers to the Business Tech program.

For twelve years, Fay Butler has provided expert industry guidance to the Metal Fabrication Program Advisory Council. Butler is the owner of Fay M. Butler Fabrication in Wheelwright, MA. He often comes in to instruct students in metallurgy and welding science, serves as a Senior Project judge, and welcomes our students to his workshop to mentor and encourage them.

The Hall of Achievement Committee is comprised of former instructor David Quinn, former School Committee member, George Luoto, Principal Mark Hollick, and Russ Mangsen, Director of Technical Programs.

Additionally, several student groups were recognized for some recent achievements. Cameron McLaughlin and Matthew Marinelli earned Gold Medals for Additive Manufacturing at the 2017 SkillsUSA state competition, while Bethany Ramsbottom, Brianna Fontes and Maria Velasquez earned Silver Medals for OSHA, and Bronze medals were earned by Alden Vedder for CNC Technician, Janet Raymond for Paint and Design, and Christopher McBreen for Technical Drafting. McLaughlin and Marinelli will travel to Louisville, Kentucky to compete at the national level in June. Business Professionals of America national conference qualifiers are Jordan Correia, Jonathan Leone, Juliza Rodriguez and Barry White for Small Business Management Team; Samantha Medeiros, Ghislaine Morris, Victoria Silva and Lauren True for Presentation Management Team; Jessica Sales for Medical Office Procedures; and Matthew Dewar was elected Vice President at the state level. These students will travel to Orlando, Florida in May for the national competition.

The FIRST Robotics team was recognized for being awarded the Motorola Solutions Quality Award for robustness in concept and fabrication at the Rhode Island District event held recently at Bryant University. Finally, a team of students from Auto Technology, with help from Design and Visual Communications, submitted a video of their work with FLUKE Corporation scan tools and software and were named 2 nd place winners, nationally.

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