Q&A: Emmett O’Brien Students Complete Service Project

Three students from Ansonia’s Emmett O’Brien Technical High School recently performed a service project to replace a planter for the Wesley Heights assisted living facility in Shelton.

The students — sophomores Travis Hunter, Kylie Johannessen, and Christopher Kulas — are taking part in the SkillsUSA competition and completed the project as part of the program.

Kulas answered some questions about the project via an email Q&A with the Valley Indy.

Valley Indy: What is Skills USA?

Christopher Kulas: SkillsUSA is a national competition in which students are able to work with teachers and industry to prepare for becoming a skilled worker. Every year students from the various technical high schools compete against each other on a state level at State Conference; this year State Conference is on April 6, at Wilcox THS in Meriden, CT. There are many different areas in which the students compete from Trade events to Leadership Events. SkillsUSA very much a learning tool, which gives us experience in the industry and prepares us for the world after high school. 

Valley Indy: Do all students participate?

Christopher Kulas: All students in Emmett O’Brien do have the opportunity to participate in SkillsUSA, however, only a chosen few compete. The reason why we all decided to participate was to have something we could do together that also was for a good cause. We chose to be active in SkillsUSA because of our teacher and mentor Sonya Allard, she inspired us to get out there and compete. There were so many competitions to choose from but we ultimately decided to go with Community Service because it gave us the opportunity to do our own thing.

Valley Indy: Why did you reach out to Wesley Heights?

Christopher Kulas: We came up the idea by calling various retirement centers in the valley to see if they needed anything.

Valley Indy: How’d the idea of replacing the flower box come about? 

Christopher Kulas: The idea of the flower came about after the three of us discussed our options. The flower box seemed to be the best choice.

Valley Indy: How did you build it? Did it take long to put together?

Christopher Kulas: We followed a design given to us from Wesley Heights staff and got to work. It did not take long to build. Between the three of us, it only took five hours from start to finish. 

Valley Indy: Did you have to buy any materials or hardware?

Christopher Kulas: Henry (Hank) Rotzal donated the wood for our project, and Mr. Hunter, Travis’ father, donated the hardware.

Valley Indy: You plan to install the flower box Friday (March 30)?

Christopher Kulas: Friday is a very important day for Kylie, Travis, and I, as we are delivering the flower box to Wesley Height in Shelton at 11 a.m. We have been waiting for this for a while and it is going to be very exciting!