NORWAY — A senior at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris recently completed his senior project by building two benches for use by trail hikers at Roberts Farm Preserve.

Lee Dassler, director of the Western Maine Foothills Land Trust, said Jessie Ripley completed the project, which required structural engineering, aesthetic design considerations, communication skills and the ability to partner with an area business and one local nonprofit corporation last week.

The Western Foothills Land Trust, which owns the Preserve, attended a nonprofit fair at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in November. The annual fair organized by teacher Brewster Burns intends to address community needs by linking seniors and other student volunteers to community organizations.  

Dassler and Ripley discussed many volunteer opportunities available at Roberts Farm, including building benches, she said at the fair.

“Jessie’s forestry class had worked diligently at Roberts Farm Preserve thinning a pine stand and clearing the fields for the garden-to-school program, so Jessie knew the site and the trail system,” Dassler said.

Ripley found outdoor bench designs online and altered them to accommodate the needs of Nordic skiers and snowshoers who would need a place to sit while putting on their equipment outside the warming hut, Dassler said.

“Considering also skiers who might like to take a comfortable break between skiing without removing equipment, Jessie designed the benches so that skis and snowshoes can easily slide underneath,” she said.

The sturdy benches were built of pine donated by Keiser Homes in Welchville.

Ripley will study precision machining technology at Central Maine Community College next fall.