DACC students lend a hand to Delaware County Fair

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The Delaware County Fair got a hand this year from Delaware Area Career Center students who helped with landscaping, making storage racks for animal cages, and designing the fair magazine.

DACC landscaping instructor Gary Kessler said Thursday that his students and students from the DACC equine program spent time working on the infield, including mulching and trimming the Little Brown Jug hedges.

Brad DeMent, DACC’s welding instructor, said his students designed and created two storage racks for the small animal committee at the fair.

“Six seniors worked on design, layout, cutting, fabrication, welding, and finishing the project,” DeMent said. He said the racks would hold the rabbit cages and chicken cages once they are broken down and put in storage. He estimated his students spent 20 lab hours on the project.

DeMent said the project was a good exercise for his students.

“The project was a very real-world scenario,” he said. “The customer had a need and we had to build a satisfactory product to meet their need. The customer provided the cage that would fit into the rack so we could build it the appropriate size and also provided a few reference pictures of what they wanted. Other than that, the students had to problem-solve and use their critical thinking skills to produce a functional product that would satisfy the end user without the luxury of detailed blueprints.”

He added that these scenarios allow students to work effectively and apply their skills to a real-world situation.

“Quality and function were the key focuses on this project,” DeMent said. “Students had to focus on angles, measurements, and quality welds to make a quality end product that will be used for many, many years to come. The customer was happy with the end result and stated that a ‘store-bought’ rack would have been not as well built or sturdy. It is nice when we receive a project that the students enjoyed learning from while helping out a local organization.”

DeMent said the project was a “win-win” for the DACC and for the fair.

Wil Rowland, one of the digital design instructors at the DACC, said three of his students were tasked with designing and creating the Delaware County Fair Magazine for this year’s fair.

Rowland said the students began working on the project on and off from early February to mid-June and said it was incorporated into part of their grade and class work.

“I am very proud of my students work and I’m excited to see the final piece printed,” Rowland said. “I am also thankful to [Delaware County Fair Manager] Sandy Kuhn for the opportunity and learning experience offered to our digital design students.”

Ceci Clark, a senior in the digital design program, was the lead designer on the project and worked with seniors Caleb Hawk and Zach Hinkle to create the magazine.

“I put in countless hours to organize and put together the magazine,” Clark said. “I would guess I put in 150 hours or so since I was given the project midwinter. I came in to DACC three times over the summer to continue working on the magazine before I left the state for the summer.”

Clark said she and the DACC students were given a lot of freedom with the project.

“There wasn’t much that was set in stone other than having the schedules and ads organized well,” Clark said. “The fair gave me a lot of freedom to design it the way I thought was best and fit well with the environment and aesthetic. This was a great opportunity for growth and gave me a lot of creative freedom to create what I thought was best.”

Clark said the project was a great experience.

“This project was more than I could’ve ever asked for as someone so young,” Clark said. “It was a great opportunity to have been given and so much responsibility to have held. I am very grateful that I was able to fill the request, and willing to put in the time and effort necessary for a project this size.”

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Delaware Area Career Center seniors Christian Meehan and Zach Pugh load a wheel barrow full of mulch Thursday at the infield of the Delaware County Fairgrounds.
http://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2017/09/web1_DSC_0576.jpgDelaware Area Career Center seniors Christian Meehan and Zach Pugh load a wheel barrow full of mulch Thursday at the infield of the Delaware County Fairgrounds. Glenn Battishill | The Gazette

The Delaware County Fair Magazine was designed by Delaware Area Career Center students studying digital design and has been in production since last semester. The students and their instructor said the project was a great learning experience.
http://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2017/09/web1_fair-mag.jpgThe Delaware County Fair Magazine was designed by Delaware Area Career Center students studying digital design and has been in production since last semester. The students and their instructor said the project was a great learning experience. Courtesy illustration | Ceci Clark

By Glenn Battishill

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Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.

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