Sharon Springs Senior Chases his Dreams at BOCES

SCHOHARIE – It’s not every day a student whose dream is to be a lawyer pursues a career and technical education, but that’s exactly the path Joe Nedelsky of Sharon Springs is pursuing.

Nedelsky is a senior in the Capital Region BOCES Criminal Justice program at the Career and Technical Education Center – Schoharie Campus, where he is learning the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue a career in law enforcement.

While the majority of his classmates are planning to become troopers, police officers and forensic investigators, Nedelsky is planning to one day serve on the bar.

“It’s something I have always wanted to do,” said Nedelsky, during a recent class in which he and his peers practiced felony traffic stops.

The soft-spoken scholar is chasing his dreams at the University at Albany next year, where he will be enrolled in a pre-law track.

In the meantime, Nedelsky said BOCES has armed him with a tremendous amount of knowledge that he expects to use in college and one day in the court room.

“Attending the Criminal Justice program has allowed me to learn a lot about the law and it has provided me a really good base for my future studies. I have learned about the law, like knowing the Miranda rights and other basics that I will need to know when I study law,” he said.

Nedelsky and his classmates learn about the history, theory, practices and recent developments in the field of criminal justice during two years of study at the Career and Technical Education Center. They also learn hands-on skills such as fingerprint collection, radio use, arresting and handcuffing and dealing with safety hazards and emergency situations.

Besides the skills and knowledge he has gained, Nedelsky praised the BOCES environment.

“BOCES is great because the people are really friendly and [teacher Darin] Jones shares so much of what he has learned working in law,” he said.

For more information on the Criminal Justice program, visit https://www.capitalregionboces.org/career-technical-education/courses-programs/criminal-justice/.