The WNY P-TECH Academy recently helped put some names to the faces of animals helping veterans and first responders overcome trauma and deal with stress. In the spring, students made a dozen wooden nameplates that were recently installed at Range Ranch. The sprawling site just up the road from the BOCES LoGuidice Center is home to the National Equine Institute of Growth Through Healing (NEIGH), a nonprofit organization that uses equine therapy to assist individuals, including youth, to deal with post-traumatic stress or other issues.
The partnership between Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES and Range Ranch began this past school year. Melissa Pietrkiewicz, a school social worker at P-TECH, got in touch with NEIGH founder Dawn Samuelson. Their discussion led to the signs, which include the names of each animal as well as the logos for NEIGH and P-TECH. Students also made an adapter that allows GoPros to be mounted on horses kept at the ranch.
Samuelson said, "We love working with youth, and our collaboration with P-TECH was just amazing. It was awesome having them be able to utilize their skills, and it helped make this place look so much prettier and official with the nameplates."
In addition to NEIGH and Range Ranch, the site on Fredonia-Stockton Road is also home to Ranchin' for Veterans, a nonprofit established to teach former members of the military how to ranch. The organization's mission, according to its website, is to "provide transformative equine-assisted therapy services in a trauma-informed environment that fosters mental and emotional healing to prevent suicide and improve well-being."
Nick Anson, Mechanical Technology instructor at P-TECH, said students were excited about the prospects of helping a local nonprofit organization. For the nameplates, he said they used a laser engraver on 0.75-inch pine and added features allowing them to be placed on the front of stalls and for equipment to be hung from hooks. The adapter mounts for the GoPros were made from a 3-D printer. Anson said students researched mounts and then designed one of their own based on specifications provided by Samuelson.
Samuelson said the adapters will allow the organization to film some of its equine sessions, allowing participants to get a horse's perspective.
Tristen Brandow, who just completed his freshman year at P-TECH, was among a handful of students who visited Range Ranch in late May to tour the grounds and interact with the horses. He helped design the nameplates that were enthusiastically received by NEIGH.
Photo by Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES
