WNY P-TECH in Dunkirk recently helped put some names to the faces of animals helping veterans and first responders overcome trauma and deal with stress.
Last spring, students made a dozen wooden nameplates that were recently installed at Range Ranch. The sprawling site just up the road from the LoGuidice Educational Center is home to NEIGH, a non-profit organization that uses equine therapy to assist individuals, including youth, to deal with post-traumatic stress or other issues.
The partnership between Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES and Range Ranch began this past school year. Melissa Pietrkiewicz, a school social worker at WNY P-TECH, got in touch with Dawn Samuelson, founder of NEIGH — National Equine Institute of Growth Through Healing.
Their discussion led to the signs, which include the names of each animal as well as the logos for NEIGH and WNY P-TECH. Students also made an adapter that allows GoPros to be mounted on horses kept at the ranch.
“We love working with youth, and our collaboration with P-TECH was just amazing,” Samuelson said. “It was awesome having them be able to utilize their skills, and it helped make this place look so much prettier and official with the nameplates.”
Range Ranch was started by three men: brothers Ryan and Markus Deas, along with Robert Moore.
According to an article in the OBSERVER newspaper, Ryan Deas met Moore while in the U.S. Marine Corps, where the two discussed their shared interests in ranching and helping veterans.
When the Fredonia Stockton Road property became available in 2023, the idea for Range Ranch was officially born.
In addition to NEIGH, the site is also home to Ranchin’ for Veterans, a nonprofit established to teach former members of the military how to ranch.
Samuelson has been promoting the benefits of equine therapy for more than two decades.
The organization’s mission, according to its website, is to “provide transformative equine-assisted therapy services in a trauma-informed environment that fosters mental and emotional healing to prevent suicide and improve well-being.”
NEIGH moved into its new ranch home last November and has continued to work with numerous organizations and individuals.
“We work with people who suffer from trauma,” Samuelson said. “We work with veterans, first responders, and youth. This place is really going to be growing into a veteran’s retreat.”
Nick Anson, Mechanical Technology instructor at WNY P-TECH, said students were excited about the prospects of helping a local nonprofit organization.
For the nameplates, he said they used a laser engraver on 0.75-inch pine and added features allowing them to be placed on the front of stalls and for equipment to be hung from hooks.
The adapter mounts for the GoPros were made from a 3-D printer. Anson said students researched mounts and then designed one of their own based on specifications provided by Samuelson.
“We probably made seven or eight small tweaks here and there just to get the design right,” said Anson, who recently visited the ranch with students. “This place is just amazing,” he said. “It’s amazing what they have out here and what they have going on.”
Samuelson said the adapters will allow the organization to film some of its equine sessions, allowing participants to get a horse’s perspective.
Tristen Brandow, who just completed his freshman year at WNY P-TECH, was among a handful of students who visited Range Ranch in late May to tour the grounds and interact with the horses. The Jamestown resident is no stranger to farmlife, having spent time on his grandparents’ property growing up.
“I think this was a really good experience,” said Brandow, who will be entering the Welding Technology pathway at WNY P-TECH beginning this fall. “Not many kids have the opportunity to get hands-on work like this, especially at school.”
Brandow helped design the nameplates that were enthusiastically received by NEIGH.
“It was just a great experience, being able to come out here with some of my classmates for a great cause,” he said. “It was a lot of fun.”
