Pictured are (L-R): Matt Howk (WE), Nick Husar (CL), Rob Brady (AV), Eric Cvanciger (NR), and Ryan Ables (EL)

December 2, 2009 -- Students in the Lorain County JVS American Civics classes volunteer their time and talent at many Lorain County community service organizations. Several students recently used their career-technical skills for a construction project at the Blessing House in Sheffield Township.

Blessing House is a shelter for children of families in crisis. The facility provides a temporary safe home for children and support for their families. Blessing House director, Sister Mary Berigan, needed to replace the home's back steps and have fall landscape maintenance completed on the facility's grounds.

Senior carpentry program students, led by Tyler Northeim and Ryan Ables, designed the ramp and built sections of it at the JVS with the help of their classmates. Several students spent over 5 hours removing the old stairs and installing the new landing and twenty foot ramp.

JVS students will also return to the house this month to sort Christmas donations and complete a craft project for the children. In the five years that JVS Instructor Erin Byrne's students have been volunteering, they have helped hundreds of people at nursing homes, food banks, children's programs and organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, and the Salvation Army.

Participating JVS students included: Ryan Ables, Carpentry student from Elyria; Tyler Northeim, Carpentry student from Firelands; Raymond Tamesis, Landscaping & Greenhouse Management student from Avon; Michelle McKinley, Early Childhood Education student from Avon Lake; Nick Husar, Masonry Trades student from Clearview; Rob Justin, Carpentry student from Elyria; Rob Brady, Plumbing & Pipefitting student from Avon; Matthew Howk, Carpentry student from Wellington; Eric Cvanciger, Carpentry student from North Ridgeville;
and Aaron Donelan, Industrial Electricity student from Brookside.