MARTIN COUNTY,FL -- A pint-sized project is offering a larger-than-life lesson to the students in the Carpentry program at South Fork High School.
More than 70 students have each measured, traced, cut, assembled and sanded a child-sized bench as part of a community service partnership program with the Martin County Library System's Red Bench Family Literacy Program.
In its fourth year of operation, the Red Bench project promotes reading and literacy to needy families.
“Red Bench” serves families with pre-school age children who are enrolled in any of the Martin County School District’s Family Learning Centers or the Head Start program.
For the pre-schoolers, the Red Bench creates a connection to reading and conveys a special welcome to the library system.
A grant funded by the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties and the Thomas Trust pays for the cost of the materials, and the South Fork High School Carpentry program is volunteering the labor to construct the benches.
Carpentry instructors Ken Featherstone and Gary Townsend have implemented the program.
“Our Carpentry students are doing more than constructing a piece of furniture,” says instructor Gary Townsend. “They’re focusing their skills and learning the impact of community service.”
That’s a priceless lesson.
There’s more than a touch of pride that went into every construction detail of the 70 red benches.
“I think it’s really cool that some little kid will be sitting on my bench to learn about books and reading,” says one Carpentry student. “I’m building something that’s important, and I feel really good about that.”
