FARMINGTON – Students from the Foster Regional Applied Technology Center’s Carpentry Program have been hard at work on a renovation project at LEAP’s central office on the Farmington Falls Road since January.

Eleven students have taken an empty basement and created three new offices, a meeting room and storage area for Life Enrichment Advancing People Inc. The students have worked on framing, insulating, hanging wallboard and mud work, hanging a suspended ceiling and finishing things off with trim work for the doors and windows.

“These students are hard workers and have performed a wonderful service for our agency. We could not have done this project without their assistance,” said Rick Dorian, LEAP’s executive director. The students from the carpentry program are: Joshua Blodgett, Jeremy Brewer, Derek Campbell, Shane Dexter, Dustin Duchesne, , Chris Embleton, Dennis Meaney, Chad Mitchell, Becca Paskell, Carl Pepin and Chris Silva, under the direction of instructor Mike Fogg.

LEAP is a private nonprofit agency, which has been providing community and residential supports for people with developmental disabilities and mental retardation in western and central Maine and their families for nearly 24 years. The agency provides a variety of individualized and small group services and supports. LEAP is a member of the Maine Association for Community Support Providers, the Maine Association of nonprofits and is a member agency of the United Way of the Tri-Valley Area.

For more information about the carpentry program, Mike Fogg, carpentry instructor, or Glenn Kapiloff, principal of technical center, at 778-3562. To learn more about LEAP services write to LEAP, P.O. Box 979, Farmington, ME 04938, or call 778-3443.