Since 1854 — News from Montcalm County and Ionia County, Michigan

By Cory Smith | on May 05, 2022

During a visit to the Montcalm Area Career Center on April 28, Central Montcalm Upper Elementary School fifth grade students raise their hands to answer a question asked by MACC Construction Trades Instructor Ken Bunting as the students prepare to assemble wooden “Hornet Book Boxes” to be placed throughout the greater Stanton community. — DN Photo | Cory Smith

SIDNEY TOWNSHIP — With every screw tightened into place, with each piece of wood fixated together with glue, students from Central Montcalm Upper Elementary School received a peek into the world that a career in construction trades might offer them one day.

“I think everyone should be given the chance to try this,” fifth-grader Audrey Arwood, 10, said. “It teaches you how to be more careful with stuff while being creative, too.”

Arwood and her peers traveled to the MACC on a mission to not only receive some insight and hands-on experience working with tools but to create boxes that will be placed throughout the greater Stanton community with a purpose of expanding reading options.

Several years ago Central Montcalm Upper Elementary School Principal Jane Trimper came forward with an idea to have parents and students work together to construct what would be known as “Hornet Book Boxes.”

Once assembled, the boxes would be placed at area businesses to contain books for children to read and take home if desired.

“When I was hired as principal six years ago and left my classroom I had all of these books I had to box up and I didn’t know what to do with them,” Trimper said. “After speaking with the local Lions and Rotary clubs, I talked to them about this idea regarding books and businesses. When a child is waiting for a meal at The Brickyard or any other business, there could be a box available containing those books for them to read.”

While the coronavirus pandemic initially put the project on hold, Trimper was finally able to bring her concept to fruition this spring.

Though she originally conceptualized students working with parents to assemble the boxes, she was thrilled when MACC Construction Trades instructor Ken Bunting revealed that his students would be more than willing to partner together on the project.

“The fact that it turned into the Career Center students doing it along with our own students was a huge bonus,” Trimper said. “I also wanted the students to see the rest of the Career Center. We’re so lucky because it’s so close right here in the Stanton community. It’s a great community asset.”

As a result, the Upper Elementary students not only assembled their boxes on the day, but they received a tour of the many programs offered to area high school students at the MACC.

“We want to bring the young kids over to the Career Center to see all of our programs, to see all of these opportunities,” Bunting said. “However, I told them, this is also about having good grades in your other subjects, too. I told them today they need to keep their grades up in English, math and everything else. We love to get the kids out here, to build something, to experience this. My students get a great experience working with these kids as well, so it’s a win-win all the way around.”

As the students came together to assemble the boxes, both the youngsters and teens were excited to collaborate together.

“It’s super cool,” Central Montcalm High School senior Tea Hoffman, 18, said. “I didn’t really get this experience when I was younger, so I just think it’s always fun to help younger kids learn skills like this, especially since they can use these skills in the future.”

As Hoffman worked directly with fifth-grader Baylee Vansickle, 11, they both came away reflecting on the experience as a positive one.

“My dad works at a car shop where he fixes cars and sometimes when I go to his work I get to help him fix stuff, using a lot of tools while helping put parts on cars,” Vansickle said. “I thought today was really cool because I haven’t done something like this in a while. I missed this. It was a lot of fun.”

For fifth-grader Parker Richmond, 11, the wood-working experience offered a few lessons on the day as well.

“One, wood glue is dangerous,” he said with a laugh. “I only know how to get it off my skin, not my clothes. But I did learn one thing and that was to put the wood glue in the middle of the boards, not the cracks.”

MACC students Camron Havens, 17, a junior at Carson City-Crystal High School, and Petyon Krantz, 17, a senior at Lakeview High School, could only smile as they worked together with several elementary students on the day.

“It’s fun to show someone how to use a tool for the very first time, to see them get excited when they finally use a nail gun,” Havens said.

“I wanted to make it fun for them, this first time, so they’ll want to do it again in the future,” Krantz added. “We wanted to make it enjoyable, not scary.”

For fifth-grade teacher Beth Clingenpeel, the opportunity to take her students to the MACC for part of their school day was an experience she hopes they never forget.

“It’s definitely important because it shows them real-world careers that they can go into while seeing the process of how different things are made and the work that goes into it,” she said. “They will definitely take away the experience of having handled a power tool, maybe having more confidence the next time they see one in being able to use it.”

Clingenpeel said by working with high school students directly, she believes the impressions left on her own students will be even longer-lasting.

“Working with the high school students, that’s really a desired activity — those students are put on a pedestal by my kids,” she said. “This is really a confidence booster overall for them.”

Once the 47 boxes were assembled, they were returned to the elementary school, to be decorated and painted by third and fourth graders.

“For these students to know that their projects will be out there … And for the people that live in the community, I think this will help reinforce that reading is so important.”

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