Silent Bids Take Place for APS, CTE Garage Sale

From welding equipment to actual school buses, Alpena Public Schools, along with the Career and Technical Education program began the silent bidding process for their annual garage sale.

This is the second year the CTE program has held the sale, and it’s been a growing success.

“This year, we have a lot more equipment because we have updated our programs for the students through grants that we have received, so there’s a lot more equipment that works and that is in really good shape here today,” said Meg Devers, a member of the CTE program.

They planned to open the doors for silent bidders at 4pm on Tuesday, but people were lined up outside the gates at 2pm, ready to put in a bid for any equipment they may need. Devers said there was a number of business owners who are interested in the equipment.

“They’re the people out in the work world that are looking to get some equipment that they can still use,” she said. “A lot of welders have come in and looked at the machines, and a lot of the mechanics, so a little bit for everybody. We even have vinyl printers back there, and scaffolding.”

The CTE students get updated versions of the equipment that is put out for sale, and the community has the chance to come out and purchase it, which then helps the CTE students.

“We’ve been very fortunate with grant monies and other monies given to us that we’ve been able to upgrade and update our equipment,” said CTE Director of Instruction, Joyce McCoy. “We have students that would like to buy some of the stuff to work on at home, and we have students that have been here a long time ago that would like to do that, and so it’s a community event.”

As the CTE program receives more grant money to update their equipment, ensuring they have the optimal resources to learn in their respective fields, they are optimistic about what the sale could look like in the future.

“Being able to get the latest technology, like that are used in business is so important for us, and we’ve been so fortunate,” said McCoy. “The growth is there, we try to keep up with our industry demands, and what jobs our students will get.”

Winning bidders are announced on Wednesday, and they can pick up their items on Thursday.