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JANUARY 17, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXIV • NO 49
wellness
A sweet honor
BY CATHY MOLITORIS
at the school. Martin noted that the program offers students an opportunity to learn a trade while also engaging kids who might not thrive in a typical academic classroom. “ These kids are hands-on. They’re not book learners,” he stated. “They get frustrated sitting at a desk. They want to be out working with their hands, and they will potentially have a great career after this.” The 40-some students working on two houses currently will go on to schools like Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology
Before they got married, Sara and Doug Taylor spent a lot of time in the kitchen baking cookies. “It was something fun to do while we were dating,” Sara recalled. “ We wanted to perfect the chocolate chip cookie and create one that was huge, gooey and dense on the inside and crispy on the outside.” Their persistence in perfecting the recipe paid off, and the couple opened Taylor Chip in 2018. Now Sara has been named as one of the Forbes 30 under 30 in the “Food and Drink” category for 2024. The award honors 30 people under the age of 30 in 20 industries. “I was shocked when I found out I’d been chosen,” Sara said. “I actually thought the email was spam.” Once she verified its validity, she was excited to travel to New York City, where she met with other winners. Although Sara qualified for the award - she’s 29 years old - Doug is 30 and just a little too old for the honor, but Sara emphasizes the business is a team effort. The couple began making their signature cookies as wedding favors, and the sweet treats were so well received, they decided to take a leap of faith and start a business. Taylor Chip opened a small stand at the former Lancaster Marketplace on Fruitville Pike before expanding to its current four locations in Lancaster, York, Hershey and Intercourse. This year, the company expects to bring in more than $4 million in revenue. “It’s really crazy how it blew up,” said Sara, a 2013 graduate
See Learning pg 1
See Taylor Chip pg 2
Students work inside a house on the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center’s Mount Joy campus.
BY CATHY MOLITORIS
students to the sites was a chal- work and plumbing, who come lenge. In 2005, the school stream- from the Brownstown campus. lined the process by subdividing Instructors Mitchell Hinton sections of the Mount Joy campus and James Smith supervise the into lots for future house projects. students. Once the home Building the is complete, it ’s homes takes place over two years and “Seeing what you sold on the open market. The most involves students create at the end recent home comin multiple areas is the best part.” pleted by LCCTC of study, said Rick students was a Martin, constructhree-bedroom, tion manager. Students in the carpentry pro- two-and-a-half-bath house that gram in Mount Joy are joined by sold in July of 2022 for $415,900. LCCTC students in other fields of The proceeds from the sale are construction, including electrical used to fund future house projects
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earing hardhats and safety goggles, a group of students is hard at work on the grounds of Lancaster County Career and Technology Center (LCCTC) in Mount Joy. They’re building a home as part of the school’s House Project, and they’re also honing the skills they need for their future careers. Since 1989, students have constructed homes through the program. Initially, the construction sites were located throughout Lancaster County, but getting
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Hands-on learning