Engineering high school students in Syracuse spent the day building bunk beds to help kids in need of a comfortable place to sleep. The Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central is collaborating with non-profit ‘Sleep in Heavenly Peace’ which will deliver the beds this weekend.
P-TECH Engineering Teacher Chris Nolan says it’s a good opportunity for students to apply their knowledge to practice while helping the community.
“Our students, I mean there is a huge value in what we are doing with them. They are learning team work skills, communication skills, and actually applying some of the education they used in engineering class to contribute to society. ”
Tenth and 11th grade students are taking part in the project. Nolan says students aimed to complete six beds Friday; however, they might exceed their goal and finish around 10 beds. Student Mahogony Richardson says is enjoying the project and plans to do it, again.
“It makes you feel very heart-warming knowing that we are able to help kids who are underprivileged, and are not able to have the thing we have. This is something that we would like to do more in the future.”
The program could be expanded to become a part of the school’s curriculum due to high student interest. Nolan says it’s inspiring.
“There is no better feeling in the world than...we’ve educated this students, and now the greatest thing is I see that students are teaching each other skills on the drill press and how to use the saws. I mean this is super rewarding for me and super rewarding for the kids that they are giving back. ”
The next bed building project for the Marcellus area will take place in June.