PARIS — The accomplishments of Ashley Richardson as a High School senior at OHCHS are impressive. She was part of a team of students who built a house from start to finish in her Building Trades class. Additionally, she served as captain on her soccer team, along with being a key contributor on the 2022 State Championship Basketball Team. Finally, she ran Track and achieved high academic honors. Notably, she did all of these things with a huge smile–the same smile that she shared with everyone. “Her smile and her leadership are what I remember the most.“ explained Building Trades Instructor Dan Daniels. “She could be leading a team of students on the coldest day, doing the most demanding physical labor, and role modeling hard work with a smile to everyone around her. She’s someone who everyone enjoyed being around, and at the end of the day, you would look around to see how much had been accomplished. She understood leading from within and because of it, she will someday own her own successful business.”

Owning her own business is exactly what Ashley is preparing to do. After graduating from Oxford Hills, she is currently a 2nd-year student in the Building Trades Tech program at Central Maine Community College. I had the pleasure of chatting with Ashley about her plans for the future. Here is what she said: “Over the next 5 years, I
want to finish college, work in the field to gain experience, apprenticeship in a variety of areas, get my real estate license and eventually own my own business, both flipping houses and building new homes.”

As though that is not impressive enough, she added: “I’m in year three of an 8-year plan and my pathway so far has been exactly what I have wanted and needed. My
decision to join Building Trades in High School was the best decision I could have made. It might have meant I showed up to soccer practice in steel toed boots, but it also meant that I was taking a risk, doing what I wanted to do and excelling at it. I so appreciate my time at Oxford Hills and being involved in building a house from the
ground up; but it goes way beyond the house. What people don’t always realize is that when you build something with your peers, you really learn everything about the other person, their background, strengths and weaknesses. When you combine that with your background, strengths and weaknesses, you start to develop into a family type of team. I learned a lot of hard skills from my instructors, but I also learned a lot about myself and how I work with others from our conversations at lunch or when Mr. Stevens and Daniels took us all out to dinner.”

Ashley is quick to acknowledge the foundation and support she has had in life, as evidenced by her explaining how she developed such excellent habits of work. “I think I got my first spark for building from my parents. We grew up in a large farmhouse and much of our time was spent renovating it room by room. My parents owning their own business has also given me insight to what it takes to run a business and the pros and cons along the way. I also had great friends and experiences in school. I loved the pep rallies and there is nothing better than being in a playoff game and seeing the whole community behind you. Oxford Hills is a special place, so many people support the school to support students.”

Ashley’s path has landed her at CMCC, taking advantage of the Maine Tuition program and expanding her knowledge base and skill set. “CM has been wonderful. I’ve
expanded my learning to include things like: site surveying, writing cost estimates, reading blue-prints, site management and incorporating other trades into the home building process. I definitely came in prepared, but CM has taught all of us a lot. It has definitely expanded my skill set and I feel so much more prepared for my future.”
As Ashley continues on her path to success, she has some good advice for all of us, and especially OHCHS students: “For all students, I would say do both…Do both
school and sports, do both a Tech program and academics, do both college and work. You don’t have to settle for just one choice. The advice I would have especially for girls would be don’t be afraid to do something non-traditional, and don’t let other people tell you that you can’t. You’ll find a path that makes sense and you greatly enjoy.” Indeed, Ashley certainly has done both, and with a smile.