An Academy of Careers & Technology instructor’s father-in-law was in Vietnam and so was his uncle, so he thought creating a Vietnam float would be a nice way to show respect to our West Virginia veterans.
“The fact that this thing had so much meaning for the history of America felt pretty good to be a part of it,” said Class of 2024 ACT student Preston Cade.
Added class of 2025 ACT student Abby brown — “Felt really good to me because my grandpa was also in Vietnam so I really enjoyed building this.”
They won first place for their Vietnam Veterans Day parade float and it was personal and held a special place in their hearts.
ACT building, maintenance and operations instructor Shane Treadway says he’s not only proud of his students for their hard work and pulling off a first-place win, he’s proud of them every day.
“We found a painting that I really liked and I’ve seen for years and I thought to try to figure out how to bring that to life would be something good that these guys could do and they could learn a lot of different aspects of construction,” said Treadway.
The jungle is on the front side of the float and the opposite side is supposed to resemble the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall.
“There are 733 West Virginians on that wall and they’re on the wall in DC,” Treadway said. “But Fast Signs — they did all the work for that and donated everything to the school.”
The students implemented Treadway’s idea and transported us into the scene, including framing and building the structure.
“We put up all the shrubbery,” Cade said. “We helped paint it.”
Brown enjoyed being able to do the scenery.
“I’m just glad that I was able to do something,” she said.
