Two projects working together: a modern trades learning space at the school, and a pathway that carries students from early exposure through summer jobs and into local careers.
A capital project, led by Tupper Lake contractors volunteering their time to work side by side with tech class students, that will transform existing space at Tupper Lake Central School District into a modern, fully equipped trades learning environment.
Students will gain hands-on experience in construction and related fields, with direct connections to local contractors and trades career pathways.
Decades-old machines still anchor the shop floor of Room B102. It is a tired space with outdated equipment — a room that looks nothing like the trades sector it is supposed to feed. And yet student interest is there, and quality work is being done.
Into a real, modern Technology & Trades Lab: industry-standard equipment for student use, proper dust collection, and a clean space for the computers used in every trade today. The room is being built by local contractors donating labor and materials, with students helping design and build their own space.
The project is supported by an $82,500 three-year grant from Adirondack Community Foundation and more than $81,000 in pledged donated materials and services from local businesses — led by Tupper Lake's trades contractors, supplemented by regional professionals and suppliers who support the trades community.
A community investment — a town backing itself.
before our current 8th grade Technology students choose a career path and another class of seniors graduates into the workforce.
We first planned the Tech Room as a three-year project. But the students and our local contractors are ready to start swinging hammers this winter, and most of the materials are pledged. Raising $75,000 in 2026 lets the work happen this school year instead of over three.
A donor has pledged $25,000, to be released after another $50,000 is raised. That leaves $50,000 to go, and every gift now helps close the gap.
Gifts are made to the Tupper Community Builders Fund at Adirondack Community Foundation and are tax-deductible.
A school-to-employment pathway connecting Tupper Lake students with skilled trades careers through early exposure in elementary school and middle school, after-school and summer employment in high school, and mentoring and support.
TCB is working with Tupper Lake Central School District personnel to strengthen the school-to-employment pathway connecting Tupper Lake students with skilled careers — mapping current TLCSD programs, enhancing messaging, and developing apprenticeship and mentorship opportunities to link students with employers and training resources in the region.
This pathway building will expand over time, reaching beyond the trades into other regional career opportunities for Tupper Lake youth.
This summer, Tupper Lake students went to work with local contractors — excavating, logging, carpentry, and diesel repair — earning a paycheck, learning a trade, and building relationships with the employers who will hire them after graduation.
Tupper Lake was built by people who worked with their hands, and that knowledge did not come from a catalog — somebody handed it to somebody else. The standards, the skills, and the attitudes one generation of tradespeople has always passed on to the next are what the Tupper Trades Pathway is built to carry forward. We call it passing the saw forward.
"We have the hands. We don't always have the money."Adam Boudreau, Chair, Tupper Community Builders