While we focus on more visible student achievements – such as sectional champions, top 3 of the grade, and multi athletes, we sometimes miss out on the accomplishments outside of that. One of the places students accomplish the most outside of Weedsport is BOCES. 

Weedsport senior Jaelyn Moore attends the Early Childhood Education program in BOCES. She says her teacher organizes a very even split of time spent learning in a classroom as well as hands-on experiences in the daycare. The seniors have also been given internship opportunities twice a week to get experience in the fields they are pursuing. 

Jaelyn is a very successful student who is committed to Niagara University. “I chose this college because they offer a 3+3 program, giving students a chance to get their bachelors and law degree in the quickest way possible.” Although she was pretty set on this path she says lately she has been considering only pursuing her bachelors in social work. “Either way, I am happy with my decision; mainly because it is away from home but not too far.” It is nice to be able to complete what you want and not have to worry about being states away from home. 

“I think BOCES has been most valuable to my self-development rather than my career.” She was able to test the waters and see what she liked and did not like rather than getting stuck with something in the future with no preparation. There were lots of opportunities given by BOCES for experiences in many career fields. 

BOCES does come with a lot of pros and cons. Yes, it may bring new opportunities and experiences that also come with a different atmosphere than staying here at school. “If you are passionate enough about something the pros will always outweigh the cons.” 

“Spending two hours a day, for two years with the same group of people helps you to see a lot of things you may not have seen before, especially about yourself. I’ve come to feel myself mature a lot in these past years. On the negative side, there were some times where I found myself feeling left out as I left for BOCES and some of my friends did not. I found myself often saying, “I can’t, I have BOCES.” 

“I’ve had several experiences that led me to wish to pursue social work.” Although it’s been my passion, BOCES and my internship only made me feel more confident in it. I realized I want to be involved in shaping the children of our future, but could definitely not handle being a teacher. I’ve found myself struggling with often feeling overwhelmed and sometimes impatient.”