Helping hands: WACTC students build storage room for Chartiers police
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
WACTC students install drywall in the ceiling of a firearms storage room they are building at the Chartiers Township Police Department. From left are Jesse Shanor, Nicoli McConn, Owen Miller, Damien Shaffer and Mason Allison.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
From left, Western Area Career and Technology Center masonry teacher Brett Shriver and Chartiers Township Police Chief Steven Horvath watch as WACTC students Jesse Shanor and Owen Miller carry drywall into a firearms storage room the WACTC students are building at the police station.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Western Area Career and Technology Center student Damien Shaffer, center, drills drywall into the ceiling of a storage room at Chartiers Township Police Department that was put in place earlier by classmates Mason Allison, Owen Miller, Nicoli McConn, and Jesse Shanor.
Courtesy of Western Area Career and Technology Center
Masonry students from Washington Area Career and Technology Center install 8-inch block for a storage room at Chartiers Township Police Department. Students from four WACTC departments have worked on the 10-by-10 room.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
WACTC students install drywall at Chartiers Township Police Department. More than 20 students from four departments are working to complete the project.
Thanks to a group of skilled students from Western Area Career and Technology Center, the Chartiers Township Police Department will soon have a new firearms storage room.
It’s a project that police Chief Steven Horvath said saved his department a significant amount of money and provided on-the-job work experience for the students.
More importantly, he said, it gave the students and police officers a chance to spend time with each other.
“I thought it would be a good idea, but it turned into something amazing,” said Horvath. “These kids know me by name, they’ve gotten to know the officers, we’ve gotten to know them. We joke around, they’re comfortable here. They get to work around police and see we’re out there doing a job. It’s nice when the kids meet us on good terms, not bad terms.”
In all, more than 20 students from four WACTC departments have worked on the 10-by-10-foot room, which will be complete in the next week or two.
Starting in mid-January, students from the masonry, carpentry and electrical departments began working on the room for about two hours a day, laying block and installing wiring and lights, a steel door, and drywall.
Welding students will put finishing touches on the steel door.
Horvath said the extra room is needed because of a law, Act 79, that requires individuals who have been issued a final protection from abuse order to turn in their guns to law enforcement agencies, a firearms dealer or commercial armory, or an attorney within 24 hours of the court order.
Previously, individuals who had a PFA order in place could turn over their weapons to family members or friends.
“It’s an extra place to store and secure guns if we need to, just to stay ahead of the game in case we get somebody with a lot of guns,” said Horvath, noting that a person with a large collection of firearms could overload the department’s storage facilities.
Masonry teacher Brett Shriver, who is overseeing the addition, said by having the students construct the room, the police department saved about $8,000, or two-thirds of the estimated cost. The department spent about $4,000 on materials.
“It was a great opportunity. We can simulate a lot of stuff in the lab, but we can’t give the kids on-the-job experience,” said Shriver, noting it was the first off-campus project the masonry department had completed in recent years. “It was the perfect situation where the new administration was supportive of us doing this when the police department reached out.”
“They are doing their best here because this is something that is going to stay up and last, and we have to do it right. We can’t mess it up.”
Shriver said the room is fireproof and contains a heavy gauge steel ceiling and steel door for security, and an exhaust system to ensure weapons don’t get damaged.
For Horvath, the best part of the project has been having the students in the building.
He keeps a refrigerator stocked daily with beverages for the kids, and the police department recently hosted a pizza party for them.
WACTC’s culinary students, in turn, have made cookies for the officers.
“I get excited because I love the kids, I love having them around,” said Horvath, who served as a DARE officer for more than 25 years. “With this project, we’re getting to know kids from other schools, not just Chartiers.”
Horvath said the students’ work has been excellent.
“They did an amazing job. Brett’s amazing with the kids and how he works with them. Brett said they’re still learning, but you couldn’t tell. It looks professional level,” said Horvath.
In upcoming days, carpentry students will complete installation of the ceiling drywall and students from the electrical department will install fixtures.
All of the students who contributed to the project will be recognized at a May 29 board of supervisors meeting.
Horvath and Shriver said the collaboration has been rewarding, and a win for both the departments and students.
“We do a ton of stuff within the community, like the bicycle rodeos, DARE and other programs, but we are always looking for ways to be more community-oriented,” Horvath said. “This went better than I ever imagined. It’s been a lot of fun.”