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SCVTHS Students Craft Wheelchair Accessible Puppet Theater for SCLSNJ’s Bridgewater Branch
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Aug 6, 2021
by Pressroom
Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School (SCVTHS) carpentry students created a wheelchair accessible puppet theater and playhouse for the Somerset County Library System of New Jersey’s (SCLSNJ) Bridgewater branch. The puppet theater provides children of all abilities the opportunity to share their creativity and connect with their community by performing for each other and their families during their visits to the Library.
“We are thrilled to increase the Bridgewater branch's value to the community as a destination for families by adding the puppet theater to our children’s area,” said Meredith Hoyer, youth services supervisor. "Under SCLSNJ's SOARING initiative, all of our Libraries include opportunities for play that support early literacy in children. Dramatic and pretend play develop a range of pre-literacy skills in young children, allowing them to engage with the stories they hear in the Library as well as use their imaginations to create original stories.”
“The Bridgewater branch’s youth services department has been so successful in building partnerships with organizations throughout the community, and this project exemplifies the kind of mutually beneficial initiatives that we aspire to at SCLSNJ,” said Cindy Mangel, manager of adult learning and community engagement, adult services. “The students designed the theater to be engaging, safe, and fully wheelchair accessible, so that it would be inclusive and accessible to all of the children in the community.”
Concluded Mangel, “The addition of the puppet theater addresses a community need for more indoor imaginative play spaces and is aligned with SCLSNJ’s strategic priorities.”
In April, the students began construction on the structure, which is sponsored and funded by a grant through SkillsUSA and Lowe’s. The project was taken on by full-time seniors (graduated 2021) Erik Bielanski-Ziminski and Tyler Caulfield and SCVTHS carpentry instructor Gerald Mazzetta, with SCVTHS incoming senior Adonis Gomez assisting with painting the structure.
The grant seeks out community service projects that enhance local communities and schools where students can reinforce their career and technical educational experience by utilizing their learned skill set.
“This project was not only trying to be creative but to be useful and safe for small kids that visit the Library everyday,” said Mazzetta. “The students had a great learning experience from this project; it showed them what it takes to make a building safe and fun for kids. This project also showed them that they had to be open to changes and adapt their build to make it work for all ages and their community.”
For more information about the puppet theater, contact Hoyer: mhoyer@sclibnj.org or (908) 458.8415 x1191. To learn more about SCVTHS, visit: scvths.org.