Engineering students design new rec center

Of the many technical programs at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, the Engineering and Architectural Design program is a busy one. The community has been vying for a recreational center to be implemented for public and student use at OHCHS.

Who better to design this entire endeavor than the students themselves?

Nine students from John Bell's EAD program formed the think tank for the project, and put their skills to the test by presenting the finished products to design teams, the school board and others.

Projects consisted of several design plans created with software entirely by the students. They assigned each plan an estimated overall cost. All plans had unique features and layout, as well as general size.

Senior Jerry Cleveland's plan, for instance, was the cheapest and it had one floor. Senior Julianna Sclafani's design, on the other hand, had total of three floors and was much more expensive.

The students have been working hard on their projects since October.

“I've been in Mr. Bell's CADD program since my sophomore year,” explains Logan Sanborn, a senior. Sanborn's model, which consisted of two levels, was created alongside Joshua Croteau and Josh Macdonald.

The process of creating these designs took some time. According to Sclafani, the students had to develop a large general list of what they envisioned for the recreational center. This included things like a pool, a weight-lifting room, an indoor track and a rock climbing wall.

The completed plan was first presented to OHCHS Principal Ted Moccia, some coaches and other members of the school community.

After feedback was given, the students revised their projects, made some changes and re-presented them. After receiving additional feedback, the students met with the Portland Design team to show off their work.

“They were very hospitable,” said Bell of the design team. The designs were also shown to the school board on May 21.

“It went pretty well,” said Sanborn. Each student presented their respective plans to the board, explaining their ideas and showing off their hard work. The students, overall, seemed to be proud of the work they had completed.

“I enjoyed it from an academic aspect but architecture is not in my future, said Sclafani, who already has a full ride to the University of Maine at Orono in mechanical engineering. "I'll be a mechanical engineer."