PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Students at Penta Career Center graduate high school with skills ready for the workforce. But, some used their skills while in class to already make an impact on their community.
The Wood County Sheriff's Office has operated a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected — MRAP —vehicle on loan for a few years.
Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn said there's one function of the vehicle that couldn't be used properly, though. It did not come equipped with a battering ram.
"Today, the only option we have is to use a battering ram, where the deputies literally have to go up to the door and smash the door down. They're exposed, it's dangerous." Wasylyshyn said
So, he reached out to Penta and the project eventually went to senior computer-aided design student Jack Cygnor.
Throughout the school year, Cygnor designed a battering ram that could attach to the front of the MRAP and is capable of taking out nearly any obstacle.
"It just felt like a good opportunity to work with people and understand how the field actually works just to really get that feeling," he said.
"These are people we're going to hire in the future, so, it's a beautiful partnership, it's a great asset we have here in Wood County, and as sheriff, I just could not be more excited from the educational part for them, but also the safety part for our team" Wasylyshyn said.
It wasn't just design, either, as students from the welding and manufacturing program were brought on board to build the ram.
"I collaborated with the welding lab, the machining lab. I had a lot of help from my instructors and all of the welding instructors," Cygnor said.
Penta graduate Emmett Truman also shared in Cygnor's feeling of accomplishment.
"Feeling that I accomplished something, accomplished a goal to get something done and now these guys are able to use it," Truman said.
The initiative was born of his office's partnership with Penta and he hopes more projects like this one can benefit both the community and the students.
"It's a great thing all the way around," he said. "They learned a lot from it. It's going to make it safer for our deputies which ultimately helps us preserve the piece in the county."
Wasylyshyn said the battering ram is ready for use in the field and the sheriff's office is waiting on an extension piece for it to be even longer in the future.