Boothbay Region High School Junior Dominick Thompson and freshman Tyler Field have been hard at work with Technology Integrator Barbara Greenstone to creating the Boothbay Region Walks website for the organization of the same name.

The website went live earlier this week.

The website showcases the variety of walking opportunities available in the Boothbay region, and promotes the health benefits gained from walking.

Greenstone was contacted by the Jim Stevens of the Boothbay Region Walks group, which was looking to have a website. With no budget for the project, Greenstone decided it was the perfect opportunity to help a couple students earn some community service time and sought out Thompson and Field to help her with the project. Since January, the three have been meeting off-and-on during core period to build the site.

“I never created a website before but I like doing computer stuff and it sounded like fun,” Thompson said.

“I usually do all my core work at home,” Field said. “So I had time, and it's been fun.”

Thompson and Field picked the layout and design of the site, found appropriate free pictures online that fit with the theme, and did research on good walking apps that tracked steps and calories burned. They worked with Greenstone to create the code for the site and she estimates they each spent at least 25 hours of their time on the project.

“You are only required to get five hours of community service,” Greenstone said. “These boys went well beyond what was necessary.”

Mary Neal of the Boothbay Region Walks group was impressed with the results. In an email she thanked the trio for the work they did.

“This is a great website and tremendous community asset for everyone,” Neal wrote. “What a fabulous community project Dominick and Tyler completed.”

Hildy Johnson agreed. “This is a fabulous site, a great resource for the region and a wonderful project.”

“This website will be so helpful to our visitors and locals ... I will personally post it on all social media platforms for the Chamber,” wrote Cherie Scott of the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce.

“We are wrapping up our work on this site for this school year, but hope to continue our relationship with the Boothbay Region Walks group so we can expand the site during the 2015-2016 school year,” Greenstone said.

The site was built in partnership with the Boothbay Region Land Trust, Boothbay Region YMCA, the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce, LincolnHealth, the Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation, Boothbay Region Historical Society and the town Boothbay. It can be found at https://sites.google.com/a/csd3-brhs.org/boothbay-walks/.