Capital Region BOCES students learning snow removal

ALBANY/SCHOHARIE (NEWS10) — Students in the Capital Region Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) program are learning to become snow plow operators who will look to keep the roadways clear and safe during treacherous winter weather. A number of Captial Region BOCES graduates from the construction/heavy equipment program have gone on to work at the New York State Department of Transportation and other county and town highway departments around the region.

“In the winter, I do a lot of snow clearing,” said Alex Stapf, current Voorheesville High School, and construction/heavy equipment senior. “I have multiple commercial and residential contracts,” said Stapf. Stapf also owns and operates Stapf’s Dirt Work and Grading, a business that offers snow removal.

According to BOCES, There are currently more than 60 students from Schoharie, Schenectady, and Albany counties enrolled in the Construction/Heavy Equipment Program. Representatives from the New York State Department of Transportation and other area county highway departments actively pursue Capital Region BOCES students due to the skills they learn from the program.

“It’s important for us to get our name out there and inform young people that we are a viable opportunity,” Marty McClune, director of operations at Albany County Department of Public Work, said during an event last school year.