Veteran helps inner-city students learn life skills through woodworking
MINNEAPOLIS -- An Iraq war veteran is part of an initiative to help inner-city kids learn life skills through woodworking.
At Webster Elementary in Minneapolis, the lesson for the day isn't about math or reading--it's about birds. In particular, building bird feeders.
"Some of them have never picked up a hammer and nails. Some of them can't identify five birds by name," said Karl Erickson.
Erickson, an Army veteran, is hoping to change that. He's with Elpis, a non-profit organization that helps at-risk youth gain tools for their future. A while back Erickson got the idea to teach 10,000 fourth graders how to build bird feeders. Webster is the seventh school his group has visited and it doesn't cost the district a dime.
"Because financial barriers for districts, for parents, are not always the best thing. They don't always line up for having extracurricular things coming into their schools," said Erickson.
But here, they do. Thanks to a donation from the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and donated wood from local businesses.
"I love it. I love to see the kids' faces. They are really, really happy at the end," said Lashay DeClercq-Ransom, Elpis Enterprises.
The hope is that projects like this, and even woodworking in general, can become a life skill or even a hobby for these kids.
"It was really fun," said Kai Gustafson, a student.
They believe it's a win for the birds, a win for recycling and a win for the students. At the end of the day, they learn that hard work pays off--and the feeders are theirs to keep.
"I'm going to hang it up outside, by my window," said Wynter McCoy, a fourth grader.
"Kids want to do cool stuff and they want to do cool things, and if we can help them meet that expectation it makes for a good school day," said Erickson.
Erickson and his group will visit 10 more Minneapolis schools over the next, couple of months.
They also teach kids screen printing and they are always looking for recycled wood to use for the projects.