Ben in the News!

Upon returning from summer break, The Edge Team was pleasantly surprised - and proud - to learn that The Lake George Mirror (a newspaper operating out of Lake George, NY) had honored Ben.  It had composed an article covering the trail-building work he performed over the summer.

Take a look for yourself through a post on Ben's blog.  If you haven't subscribed yet, take a minute to do so.  He will continue to post updates in the months ahead.

https://benbairdportfolio.wordpress.com/2017/09/11/article-in-lake-george-mirror-about-my-work/

Ben's Performance Task: Part 2 (Final Video # 2)

To showcase his terrain park, Ben elected to create two performance tasks using filmmaking.  Please see the second of those below as Ben processes his work with the help of his park testers and The Edge Team: (also, please check out and subscribe to Ben's YouTube channel)

 

Ben: Meeting with Jay Rosenbaum

"When we went up to Killington as a school, Mr. O set James and I up with a meeting with Dave Lacombe. We learned about what he does and what the guys in his shop do. At the end of the meeting I asked Dave if I could possibly meet with the park manager. He gave me his phone number so he could coordinate something the next day. However, it didn't work out.  Something came up on his end. I asked Dave if the next time I was over we could try again. So, over the break, I went to practice for a contest at Killington and was able to meet with Jay Rosenbaum."

Interested in reading more? See the rest of Ben's post on his meeting by clicking here.

Ben: Fake Snow Event

- Contest type and contest information.

 - Advertising for getting people and athletes young and old for the contest, and after the contest for next year.

- A way to draw people in besides snowboarders and skiers.

- Comp specifics includes features, skill/age categories, and number of competitors.

- Prizes, overall estimated cost, estimated prophet, and admissions cost.

Ben: Preparing the Rails

One of the most popular features in a park is the hand railing.  You can use it in a number of ways, such as by grinding or sliding across it, tapping it, jumping or spinning on it, or hopping over it. 

I really wanted to be able to have a few rails in my own park.  So, I just started asking around trying to find someone who would have some old or unwanted railings laying around.  I talked to people at the transfer station, people from town, and finally, people from the library.  The library in my town said that they were getting new railings because the ones they had were old and breaking.  They said that I could take the old ones when they got them replaced.

I waited around for a phone call so that I could come and pick up the railings.  I sketched out how I wanted to cut the rails and where.  Then, I drew how I was going to weld and repair them.  Next, I talked to both my uncles about welding some bases on the railings so that they would stand.

Finally, I got the call.  The next night, me and my father went down to the library in his work van.  We cut the railings into about five foot sections with his band saw. (Five feet is the maximum size that will fit in the car for transportation.)  Then, we took them back to the our garage.  The next day, I cleaned them up by cutting them to the exact length of 5 feet with the band saw.  I scraped all the paint and rust off the rails with a sander and a rotary wire wheel brush bit.  Then, I cut legs with the extra rails I had.

Reassessing the situation, I realized that if I welded the legs on permanently, the railings weren't going to fit in the car.  I had to use a mechanical joint.  After talking with my Dad, we came up with the idea of using Unistrut as the feet because it's super durable and strong.  We got the Unistrut, and I cut it to the right length.  When I cut the legs, I also cut out a small piece of Unistrut so that I could squish the bottom of the rail and bolt it down with the spring nut.

After we brought the rails to school, I sanded them down more and painted them with Rustoleum spray paint.  They were ready by the time we got snow!

"Update on Koi Pond: Onward!," Reflections from Edge Students

It's spring, and the Edge community is gearing up to continue our koi pond project. (If you are only joining us now, click here to get up to speed.)  Interested to hear our plan? Read on for the voices of all ten of our Edge students!

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Ben:  
"Hello everyone! While Ian and James were in Florida, they made a partnership with Blackwater Creek Koi Farms, Inc. and managed to get many fish donated.  Not only that:  the staff gave us great advice on raising the fish from young to old and creating an environment to breed them.   

"My project is terrain park and mountain bike trail building/designing.  I'm in charge of shaping out the pond and making sure it's deep enough. We plan on breaking ground soon!"

James and Ian:  
"While we were at the Blackwater Creek Koi Farms, the owner showed us the different types of filtration systems he had made.  He went into detail about how all of these systems work and how the fish can stay healthy.  He also showed us his koi farming facilities where they took the koi and sorted them by size, shape, breed, and color.

"As of right now, it's warm enough to do the digging.  We plan on doing that in the next two weeks using Kildonan's maintenance crew. (There is one last conflict, and that is the fact that there is a pre-existing drain pipe that will need to be moved over. We need to coordinate with the maintenance workers on that.)  Finally, we will be creating a parts list of everything we need AND we will install the pump when it's ready."

Ambrose:  
"My project is comics and graphic art.  I will be part of any of the art that might be incorporated into the Koi Pond.  The Edge group will try to find a bench for me to paint so we can add a bit more color to the project."

Farrell:  
"My contribution to the project is an animated short in the style of the opening to the TV show, 'King Of The Hill.'" 
 
Maddie:  
"My project is animal control and veterinary science.  I will be contributing to the koi pond project by doing labor work.  I have also done a lot of research into maintaining and caring for fish, so I will help lead the group to make sure we keep the fish healthy."
 
Annabel:  
"I contributed to the Koi pond project by creating the poster for the project at the Fall Ball.  I will also make an end of year presentation or maybe a magazine on this with pictures and some blurbs.  I also plan to make another poster/scrapbook."
 
Nelson:  
"I will help by removing the stumps and roots around the pond site.  Give me a shovel, a weekend, and maybe an axe.  I am also building a submersible drone that will help me film/record the pond and fish.  Finally, I will find stones and use a book on flora to select plants for the pond."

Chris:  
"We are going to dedicate a bench near the pond to a veteran of Vietnam (since the Vietnam War is my project).  I need to find a Kildonan vet OR dedicate the bench to all of those who served."

Santiago:  "This is Santiago.  Since I am studying business, James and I will ask about taking money from the amount we raised at the Fall Ball.  I will also help by ordering the parts (and figuring out the best way to do that)."

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Stay tuned for updates as we continue the work! As always, thank you for the support.  Feel free to leave a question! We will respond.

Ben: Wind Chime Blueprint

Ben's schematic for his park's wind chime.  Picture taken and shared by Ben.

Here are my blue prints for my wind chime.  Unfortunately, the wire I used for the chimes wasn't strong enough because the first time I tapped it, I ripped two chimes off.  I replaced the chime with a log to tap.  Next year, I plan to construct the chimes with stronger wire.