Every December, the folks at Just Born Quality Confections host PEEPSFEST® at SteelStacks to welcome the new year.

Instead of a midnight ball drop à la Times Square, the family-friendly Bethlehem bash features a 5:35 p.m. PEEPS® chick drop, followed by a dazzling fireworks display.

The 4-foot, 9-inch, 400-pound chick is enormous and stored in a comparably sized wooden container.

At the suggestion of James Rutt, Just Born tapped students from Lehigh Career & Technical Institute’s Painting and Design program to spruce up the storage container.

Rutt is a logistics manager for the Bethlehem-based candy manufacturer and serves on LCTI’s Safety Occupational Advisory Committee.

Led by program teacher Keith Lyons, LCTI seniors Kylie Ackerman, Aubrie Briody, Solimar Chung and Joney Jones teamed up to create a Just Born-approved design for the container.

Now they’re bringing it to life with paint donated by Sherwin-Williams.

The Just Born-approved design features a sunset sky, silhouettes of Bethlehem Steel’s old blast furnaces and, of course, PEEPS® chicks.

Chung, from Louis E. Dieruff High School, and Briody, from Whitehall High School, explained each element of the design is intended to evoke time, place or mood.

Fireworks, a disco ball and PEEPS® bunnies will be in the mix, as well, Jones said, from William Allen High School.

Ackerman, from Northwestern Lehigh High School, said they began work on the project midway through September and had a Nov. 1 deadline for completion.

She and the other girls were working diligently and expected to finish in plenty of time.

Every step in this process has proved to be a learning experience for his students, Lyons said.

They studied Just Born’s brand style guidelines, collaborated with the candy maker to finalize a design, worked with Sherwin-Williams to color-match paint for the project and much more.

“It’s important for students to tackle a large-scale community service project because it helps them develop real-world skills, such as leadership, teamwork and project management,” Lyons said.

“Such projects also teach responsibility and time management, showing students how their actions can directly impact a community. Additionally, these experiences foster empathy, civic engagement and a sense of accomplishment, helping students understand the value of giving back while building confidence.”