How a few scraps of wood turned into a blessing for Highland Park High School
The idea, like many of those that come from the Highland Park High School Scots Movement Club, started simple.
How could students do something to help some of the neediest students around them?
"We wanted to do something for the community," said Henry Guerra, a senior at the school and member of the club. "Someone brought up the idea of doing a little library, but we wanted to do two, with the second serving as a blessing box."
That small question last fall turned into the latest addition to campus this school year.
With the help of Topeka Center for Advanced Learning and Careers woodshop teacher Mark Richards, the students installed two blessing boxes next to the school's soccer field.
One of the boxes contains basic supplies like canned foods and feminine hygiene products, while the other contains books.
"Scots’ Movement is just a group of kids who are trying to better our community and hype up our school’s name," Guerra said. "Our mission is to make change wherever we can, big or small."
TCALC students, teacher regularly build and donate wooden crafts
The main challenge the students faced last year as they tried to get the idea for the boxes off the ground was that none of them had the first clue as to how to actually build them.
But that's when one of the students mentioned Richards, who teaches woodshop classes at TCALC, as one potential resource.
Over the years, Richards' students have routinely built and donated wooden crafts for local community organizations. Most recently, students made several benches for an outdoor learning center at Grace Episcopal Cathedral behind Topeka High.
Richards originally tasked one of his students to build the box, but after that student became bogged down in other projects, Richards decided to take on the construction himself, spending between 30 and 40 hours building the two boxes using construction leftovers.
"Every now and then, a local contractor will bring me what they consider trash — a lot of supplies that are scraps from construction sites," he said. "But one man’s trash is my treasure."
Highland Park High blessing boxes are students helping students
After Richards completed and delivered the boxes, the students painted them red and green to represent the school's colors.
They mounted them right next to the school's northern soccer field just before the start of the semester. Since then, they've had to restock the boxes about five or six times with items that have been donated from individuals and sponsors in the community, Guerra said.
"I think these boxes will really help students who aren’t that well off financially, and in the winter, it’ll help more people generally, since we’ll put beanies and mittens in the boxes," he said.
More: She was one of Highland Park High's most involved students. Then she was its biggest donor
Although several other options and aid exist at the school and around the community, Guerra said it can be that much more positive for students to know that some of the help they receive is coming from fellow students.
"It shows them that we see them, and their struggles, and we care," the senior said. "We try to help out, without getting too into their personal lives."
Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at 785-289-5325. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Highland Park blessing boxes are students' way to show peers they care
