Waldo County Technical Center’s (WCTC) second year Welding student, Sam LeVesque got a “good challenge” from his instructor, Kevin McKenney, when he was asked to construct a hay crib for WCTC’s educational  technician and cow farmer, Jon Cox.  

Cox’s cow's old hay crib was falling apart and he tried to fix it himself, but quickly realized that welding rotten metal did not make a workable feeding station for his herd. He immediately thought the task of building a new crib would make an interesting project for a WCTC welding student.  

LeVesque and his teacher joined forces to design a hay crib that was not only sturdy and functional but also turned out to be “special and unique”, according to Cox. “The cows don’t care, but it is pretty!” stated Cox. 

McKenney reported that Sam used skills on par with third year college students, including compound miter cuts, fish mouth branch connections and homemade bullnose caps. Sam pointed out that he did all of the grinding as well.  

The project took three weeks for Sam to complete and when asked what was his favorite part, he said, “the whole thing was an experience in itself.” McKenney saw that Sam put “serious effort and a lot of dedication” into this unique project.

Sam, who is a senior at Belfast Area High School is already holding down three jobs as well as attending school and plans to continue in the workforce after graduation.