By Ashley Steiner

The Waconda, USD #272 School District was awarded a Spark Grant.  With said grant, they purchased 35 touchless faucets for both Lakeside Elementary School in Cawker City, KS, and Lakeside Jr./Sr. High School in Downs, KS.

Administration ordered the faucets in June, 2020, however, they did not arrive until October, 2020.  To fulfill the requirements of the grant, the faucets were to be installed by the end of 2020.  Pressed for time and resources, Jesse Janssen, Waconda Superintendent, reached out to Shannon Duskie, Student Activities Coordinator on the Beloit Campus.  “I had just recently started with NCK Tech and saw a great learning & civic leadership opportunity for our PHAC students,” Duskie stated.

Last week, the Beloit, Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning Program Students installed the faucets in Cawker City, KS, and are on par to finish installing the faucets in Downs, KS, this week. Robert Chitty, PHAC Instructor, had the following to say about the experience, “This project helped the students better understand what tools to use and how to use them properly. I split them into 5 groups of two and showed them what to expect with the first sink, as a demonstration. Most of the fixtures are old  providing them experience with the many things that can go wrong while getting the old out and the new in. I think about every sink and faucet posed a different problem to overcome. The students are ready to see what other challenges they can experience and overcome as we finish.”