Bristol-Plymouth Tech carpentry students build podium for Dighton Police Department

Photo, top: Acting Chief George Nichols stands behind a podium hand-constructed by Bristol-Plymouth Carpentry and Computer-Aided Drafting/Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) students. (Photo Courtesy Dighton Police Department)

Superintendent Alex Magalhaes is pleased to share that Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School Carpentry and Computer-Aided Drafting/Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) students recently designed and built a wooden podium for the Dighton Police Department.

During the month of December, junior Carpentry students Justin Deangelis and Casey Williams embarked on a two-week community service project to prepare a new wooden Dighton Police podium.

Each year, Bristol-Plymouth Tech provides services to community members and organizations as part of its vocational-technical programs as a way to provide authentic learning opportunities for students. 

Deangelis and Williams were joined by CAD/CAM senior student Jason Awalt, who was tasked with designing the seal for the podium.

The need for the new podium was first presented to Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School in October through a request submitted via the school’s community services page.

Over the course of the two-week project, students worked together during their technical program time to complete the podium.

Using the plans for the podium, carpentry students Deangelis and Williams drew the parts of the podium to full scale on plywood, created a stock list and cut sheet, ran the stock through a shaper to create the design, assembled pieces and sprayed on a natural clear finish.

To create the seal, CAD/CAM student Awalt imported an image of the Dighton town seal into a software program, resized and cleaned up the image, set the material in a laser engraver and selected the correct power and speed for the laser to cut the wood provided by the carpentry students.

On Dec. 21, the finished podium was delivered to the Dighton Police Department and will be permanently displayed and utilized by town officials for years to come. 

“This podium is one that our department members are proud to stand behind as they address their colleagues and our community,” said Acting Chief Nichols. “On behalf of the entire department, we want to thank Bristol-Plymouth Tech for its willingness to support community projects like ours. We also extend a special thank you to the talented students who put this together.”

“I would like to recognize our Carpentry and CAD/CAM students who took part in this important community service project,” said Superintendent Magalhaes. “It is our goal for our students to see how their hard work makes a difference in the community and we are thrilled that this project can play a role in the day-to-day operations of the Dighton Police Department.” 

Junior Carpentry students Casey Williams (left) and Justin Deangelis embarked on a two-week community service project to prepare a new wooden podium for the Dighton Police Department. (Photo Courtesy Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School)

Junior Carpentry student Casey Williams (left) feeds the board through a planer to Justin Deangelis. (Photo Courtesy Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School)

Junior Carpentry student Justin Deangelis. (Photo: Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School)

Over the course of the two-week project, students worked together during their technical program time to build the podium.(Photo Courtesy Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School)