Lenape Tech Junior Precision Machining student Austin Hankey, of West Shamokin, and Senior Computer Aided Design student Jackie Rearick, of Apollo double-check backpacks for all the required school supplies.
by Jonathan Weaver
Lenape Tech students are asking for help from local parents and students to give school supplies to some local children and teens in need.
During the rest of the month, students will be filling empty backpacks with notebooks, folders and colored pencils, crayons or markers to give to homeless or displaced students in grades K-12 across the Armstrong-Indiana Intermediate Unit (ARIN IU 28) as part of the “Pack Yo Bags” service learning project.
Keystone SMILES AmeriCorps Autumn Lusk said students hope to pack 50 backpacks in-total and are already off to a great start, averaging more than a backpack per day.
“Last year, the IU serviced over 1,300 students in an 11-county region. They went through 150 backpacks last year, so our goal (is) 50 – a third of them – but at this rate, I think it’s safe to say that we’ll probably double that,” Lusk said.
“(The service project) has taken on a life I didn’t expect it to.”
Lusk, of West Kittanning, learned about the need during training with Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Site Coordinator Maureen Bourke.
At the end of the month, backpacks will be distributed by ARIN IU 28 based on population and Lenape Tech students will help deliver them.
“There’s a big need for help with these students,” Lusk said. “(Lenape Tech students) had the option of what Service Learning Project they wanted to do and they got really behind that they wanted to pack bookbags for students who are homeless or displaced. I asked Bourke ‘What school supplies are you usually short on – what do you go through all the time?’ so she gave me a list and (Lenape Tech) students added the art supplies and glue sticks.”
Last week, ARIN IU 28 also was a homelessness awareness week and Lenape Tech students gave surprising facts during morning announcements.
Lusk said backpacks filled by an individual technology shop also receive a tally on a set of windows at the school library, and the shop with the most tallies at the end of the month will receive a donut party.
“We found that a very good motivator in the school is donuts,” Lusk said. “At 3PM February 29, whatever shop has the most (tallies) is the winning shop.”
Orchestrated by Book Club and SkillsUSA students, Lusk said financial literacy, mathematics and public interaction are also being taught during the service project.
Junior Biomedical Technology student Jenna Stover, of Freeport, works with Keystone Smiles AmeriCorp teacher Autumn Lusk last week in the school library. Stover has donated to the service learning project and knows several other students who have as well.
Junior Biomedical Technology student Pandora Coulter, of Apollo brought in pencils and a pencil case she found at home.
“It’s amazing to know that we’re doing all this and it’s going to go all over the country,” Coulter said. “Hopefully, it will inspire people to help. What (students) are doing is good, but it’s small. So we need more people (to help).”
Junior Allied Health/Sports Medicine student Alesha Kimmel, of Apollo, also hoped to persuade her younger brother, Brandon, to donate to the cause.
Junior Biomedical Technology student Jenna Stover, of Freeport, went shopping last week for notebooks after school. She knew many students in different shops that are also helping the cause.
In November, Lenape Tech students collected 600 toiletry items – such as shampoo, deodorant and body wash during their ‘Homelessness Stinks’ campaign
Lenape Tech Administrator Dawn Kocher-Taylor praised students and community residents that have already donated toward the cause.
“It’s a great project to help students who are struggling – no child should have to face homelessness and the uncertainty that goes along with it,” Kocher-Taylor said.
Empty backpacks are already available at the school.
Donors can either donate supplies or funds to a specific technology shop or just donate to the school in general.