Graduates of the Adult Education Literacy Program came together to celebrate obtaining their General Educational Development (GED) diploma or completing their English as a Second Language (ESL) classes through the Ulster BOCES Adult Career Education Center at a moving end-of-year completion ceremony on Tuesday, May 19, at the Career Academies at iPark 87 in Kingston. A total of 22 students from across the Hudson Valley were recognized for completing the rigorous program.

Eighteen young professionals from the Ulster BOCES Career & Technical Center earned medals at the 2026 New York State SkillsUSA competition, held at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse in late April. The Ulster County competitors joined thousands of students from more than 60 high schools across the state, showcasing their skills in technical, trade, and leadership competitions while also networking with peers and industry professionals.

While the doors to the Ulster BOCES Career Academies at iPark 87 officially opened to more than 1,400 of Ulster County’s high school juniors and seniors in early September, nearly 200 educators, business/industry leaders, government officials, state education officials, and representatives from higher education were able to explore the new facility on Friday, October 3. The guests joined over 100 Ulster BOCES young professionals, staff, and administrators at its new state-of-the-art training center in the former IBM-complex on Enterprise Drive in Kingston for an official ribbon-cutting event with the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Tucker Chase is an outstanding example of what young scholars at the Hudson Valley Pathways Academy (HVPA) at Ulster BOCES can achieve. Tucker has been awarded a scholarship from the Career Readiness Educators Association (CREA) of New York State for his exemplary participation in a work-based learning program or experience. Tucker was also named as one of three “Work-Based Learning Students of the Year” by CREA. 

The future of Georgia Maritsas, a former young professional of the Ulster BOCES Transitional Occupation Program (TOP A) who graduated from Kingston City School District in 2024, is in the bag–a granola bag, that is. Since completing the program in June, Georgia has successfully launched a local business selling her own healthy granola mixture, known as Georgia’s Organic Granola.

Ulster BOCES-trained young professionals Levi Peterson and Tyler Bradley spent much of their senior year of high school as paid electrical construction interns with National Resources, a real estate and investment firm that is currently renovating the former IBM site in Kingston to become the future home of the Ulster BOCES Career Pathways Academies at iPark 87. 

Cosmo McIntosh, a recent graduate of the Saugerties Central School District who
completed the Ulster BOCES Small Engine Mechanics Repair program, earned third place in the Motorcycle Technician category at the SkillsUSA national competition. The event, which was held from June 24-28, took place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. 

Ulster BOCES Auto Collision Technology program students–or “young professionals” as they are referred to around the school building as a nod to their growing skills–gave a new look to some old faces–table faces, that is. 

The project aims to refresh old, beat-up wooden classroom work tables by sanding them down, varnishing them, and adding a bit of school spirit by incorporating the Ulster BOCES logo. The revamped tables, six which have been completed so far, have been returned to their original classrooms where they will be ready for everyone to admire when they return from the summer vacation. Twenty additional tables are slated to be refinished in the upcoming school year.