- Career & Technical Education
Career and Technical Education students in instructor Holly Toth’s Fashion and Interior Design classes at Orange-Ulster BOCES have been busy applying their sewing and design skills to make a quilt for Odyssey of the Mind. The quilt is being fashioned from a collection of vintage t-shirts that spans over 20 years of Odyssey of the Mind competitions.
The completed quilt will be displayed at this year’s Region 5 competition and then donated to New York State Odyssey of the Mind (NYSOMA), which holds a raffle of donated quilts with proceeds going to scholarships.
The shirts, along with a collection of Odyssey of the Mind pins, were generously donated by Barbara Johnson of Cuddebackville, who, along with her late husband Fred Weissman, were long-time Odyssey coaches. At state and world competitions, trading Odyssey t-shirts and pins is very popular with competitors of all ages. The couple collected the items from the many competitions they attended throughout their years of coaching.
Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program for students from kindergarten through college that focuses on creative problem-solving using a team approach. Students begin competing at the regional level, and then advance to state, national and world competitions. Orange-Ulster BOCES manages the New York Region 5 competition, which will be held on March 7 at OU BOCES Gibson Road location. The event draws over 1,000 attendees from Orange, Ulster, Sullivan and Dutchess counties.
Region 5 Director Kathy Sherlock, said “We are so pleased to be able to work with our CTE Fashion students to bring these t-shirts together into one creative design. It is truly a snapshot of both Odyssey history and art that everyone will be able to enjoy. We are so grateful to Barbara Johnson for this wonderful donation.”
The Fashion and Interior Design Program is one of 37 CTE programs offered by Orange-Ulster BOCES. The programs give students the opportunity to graduate from high school with technical experience, professional skills, national industry certifications, and college credit in a wide variety of high-demand occupations. The Career and Technical Education Division has programs located on two campuses in Goshen, one on Gibson Road and the other at the Regional Education Center at Arden Hill.