Fourteen students from Stephanie Welles’ Relevance Rising seminar and six members of Paige Hawkins RAMPS Club completed installation on two handicap access ramps last Thursday, December 3rd between 10:30 am – 1:30 pm, providing a safe entrance for residents of Nine Mile Road that live with health and mobility issues.
For the past three years, Mrs. Welles’ has taken her RR seminar to Guatemala for an interdisciplinary field experience that is both service learning and cultural immersion by providing services to the village of Tzunanà community library. RAMPS Club helps to build accessibility ramps for those without the means to afford it themselves. Materials needed to complete the project are ordered from Ramps by Students and are based upon the design need of the recipient.
Mrs. Welles learned of one resident’s need from the 2015 MLWGS RAMPS Club president and MLWGS graduate Kaitlyn Kurdziel, who was aware of a homebound gentleman from Guatemala in the US for twenty years but had suffered a spinal cord injury fourteen years ago. Because of RR’s Guatemalan connection, Kaitlyn thought the students of Mrs. Welles a good source for collaboration on these installations. Senior Will Sherrill, stated: ‘our class is a service class and we do service all the time, so this was a project we knew we’d do.”
The other ramp recipient was a graduate of the original Maggie Walker High School. Will added, “a few parts were missing for this ramp, but we were able to improvise. Overall, both were well planned out.”
Fundraising for this project began last spring with a series of coin drives, bake sales and ice cream socials to reach their goal of $1,000.00.
Students involved learned the value of community service and teamwork to accomplish this project.
http://relevancerisingmlwgs.weebly.com/
- Old front entrance with hazardous ramp
- New installation work that is rear of property
- New installation
- MWHS resident ramp installation
Student volunteers
RAMPS: Lauren Davis, Erin Flores, Kira Flores, Cassie Grebas, Ashley Nelson and Evelyn Saunders
Relevance Rising: Oge Anene, Lydia Cloud, Taylor Farrar, Finn Fisk, Ian Fraser, Chloe Houdek, Kelly Martin, Caroline Meek, Isabella Ragazzi, Madeline Russo, Caroline Ryan, Will Sherrill, Abbey Watson and Charlotte Wilmouth
