The Village of Flat Rock now has bat houses thanks to the efforts by students in A-B Tech’s Construction Management and Sustainability Technologies Departments, led by Instructors Eric Hurley and David Fortner
Students Shannan Schanbacher, Emily Tokarski, Elizabeth Martin, and Foster Griffith built the bat boxes, based on specifications provided by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. According to the Commission, bats are an important part of a healthy, balanced, well-functioning ecosystem. Not only do they help control the mosquito population, but they also control crop and forest pests and are found to save the agricultural industry about $1 billion annually.
“Bats are currently faced with white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease that does not affect humans but that has caused the death of millions of bats. In providing roosting places for bats, we are helping in their conservation,” said Hurley.
Hurley brought his commitment to community service projects from his previous teaching jobs to A-B Tech. “If you’ve ever been to DuPont State Recreational Forest in Brevard, you’ve seen my students work - road signs, wooden pedestrian bridges, sheds, picnic shelters, docks, gazebos, and our famous 112 step stairway to Triple Falls,” he said.
He was able to keep the tradition going with A-B Tech students as well. This past fall, he took a group of students to DuPont and they built a replacement barn door and three kiosks for the forest. They will return again in April to rebuild a dock at one of the smaller ponds. “The students get to build something that they can be very proud of placed to aid our environment. As a teacher, there is nothing more rewarding to me than hearing that students returned to where they completed a project, just to share with family and friends,” Hurley said.
“The Village of Flat Rock is very grateful for the generous donation of time your students gave to construct bat houses for the Park at Flat Rock. We are in the process of having them installed now and we know the community of people and nature will benefit from having them in the park,” said Judy Boleman, Village Administrator for Flat Rock.
