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Hitting the nail on the head
By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE FLORAL CITY -- It sounded like a convention of woodpeckers. Dozens of children were banging on nails with hammers, pulling out the bent nails and hammering again. Floral City Elementary School children, everyone in school that day, participated in a woodworking project under the guidance of six Home Depot associates last week. The younger students made step stools and the older ones crafted wooden safes. The project was funded with improvement money the school received for improving from a C to a B according to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Home Depot provided hundreds of kits at a discount. "This was one way of getting some to each child," said Title I teacher Amy Gysan, who coordinated the program along with Title I teacher Beverly Davis and media specialist Kay Meahl. "This is actually our A.R. celebration. (A.R. is the Accelerated Reader program, which encourages reading through comprehension testing on computers and immediate positive reinforcement.) Our theme this year (was) "Readers Under Construction.' " Gysan said the school called Home Depot for this culminating activity because the store provides workshops for children once a month. Those are held every second Saturday from 10 a.m to 2 p.m., sometimes in conjunction with special events. Children receive woodworking kits, snacks and drinks at no cost. It is a sign-up program, explained Erica Nichols, or children can just show up. Nichols coordinates the program for Home Depot. Doug Sager, human resource manager at the Crystal River Home Depot, was at the school as well. "We came over and we're helping the kids with a little woodworking project and watching kids hit nails, bend nails, pull nails out," he said. "We do this to get into the community and become part of the community." Some of the children appeared to have some woodworking experience. Shanaqua McKinnon, 9, said she has made birdhouses with her dad and that she thought the woodworking program was "pretty good." She and classmate Greg Walker, 10, were sharing a screwdriver and using it as a hammer. "All the hammers are being used," she said. Greg didn't mind, though. "It works," he said. Parent volunteer Jan Thomas was milling through the maze of hammering children, the sound of metal meeting metal, times 50 or so, ringing in her head. "I'm going to be making these in my sleep!" she exclaimed, laughing. Also assisting were those woodworking experienced students. Travis Hoefler, 10, finished his project right away and set about helping others. "I built birdhouses and stuff with my grandpa and my dad," he said. The children came to the covered physical education area in shifts throughout the day and were able to take home things they had constructed. Melissa Thomas, 10, was very impressed. "I think this is the coolest thing the school ever did," she said.
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