Students of the Horizons Academy and Bio-Med programs at Four Rivers Career Center are creating sleeping mats from recycled plastic bags. The students are using this opportunity to develop soft skills while working together to flatten, cut, tie, and weave the bags for the end product of a sleeping mat.
Students in Horizons Academy are working on this project weekly, as it provides an extension of the employability skills they are currently learning. The Horizons Academy students become the "experts" of each step, then instructed the Bio-Med students on what needs to be done. This is done in the meeting between the two groups of students monthly. It is a project that both morning and afternoon students of each program get to be a part of.
“As the planning of this project occurred, it was wonderful to see the students understand the need and brainstorm how others can get involved by bag collections at Washington High School,” said Horizons instructor Stacey Siefken.
The Horizons students volunteer at the Franklin County Community Resource Center in Union on a regular basis. During a discussion about all of the different volunteer opportunities in that location, the conversation turned to the homeless population.
“There’s a high need for the mats to help the homeless population, especially as the seasons are changing,” Siefken said. “The constructed mats provide warmth to those who do not have secure sleeping arrangements. It’s a way for our students to give back to our community, while also helping our environment by recycling bags.”
Danielle Louis, Chief Program Coordinator from the Franklin County Community Resource Center, recently spent time with the morning classes of Horizons Academy and Bio-Med to discuss what her agency does to assist the homeless in Franklin County.
A total of 16 mats were donated to help support Louis’ efforts in helping the homeless. She discussed the high need for these mats as it helps those who do not have secured sleeping arrangements stay off the ground, allowing them to stay dry and warm.
Louis also shared that not only will the mats be available at the Franklin County Community Resource Center, but some will be shared with Harvest Table, which is an organization that provides a weekly home-cooked meal and fellowship to those in need.
“This has really turned in to a project that has far exceeded my expectations,” Siefken said. “The students of Horizons Academy will continue to work on this weekly as a work station in their classroom and Horizons Academy and Bio-Med will continue to meet monthly to create more mats to be donated in the spring.”
