TREMONT, Maine — Students at Tremont Consolidated School realized the goal of a service-learning project they’ve been working on by venturing out into the cold Friday.
The wintry weather is what prompted the project to begin with. Over the past several weeks, fourth- and fifth-grade students have compiled a list of residents — mostly seniors, veterans and the disabled — who wanted help with keeping their outdoor walkways clear of ice and snow.
On Thursday, they went to two local sand yards to fill up buckets with salt and sand donated by contractors John Goodwin and Tim Gott, and on Friday morning they delivered the buckets to the 60 or so residents on the list.
Crystal Dow, a teacher at Tremont Consolidated School, said Friday that the children received a $300 service-learning grant from AOS 91, Mount Desert Island’s governing school entity. They spent the grant funds on new, silver-colored scoops for each recipient and also provided them with information from Eastern Area Agency on Aging.
Seth Clark, 10, is a fifth-grader at the school involved in the project, called Students Care About R Friends, or SCARF. He said he and the other children wanted to help make sure people would be safe walking around on their properties during the winter.
“They will sprinkle it on their driveways so they won’t slip and fall,” he said.
According to Dow, EBS Building Supplies, Maine Salt Co., Home Depot Inc. and McEachern & Hutchins Trustworthy Hardware and Home Centers donated 5-gallon buckets to the project. If any of the recipients runs out of sand and salt, they can call the school and the children will refill their buckets for free, she said.
Jeanne Movius was one of the first on the list to get her bucket delivered Friday. She hugged a group of children after they carried a full bucket up the steps to her front door.
Movius said her husband is disabled and cannot help to make sure their front steps and driveway have been shoveled and sanded after snowstorms.
“It’s important for young people to have responsibility,” Movius said, standing by her bucket on her front porch. “We, as senior citizens, really appreciate [the help]. There are so many folks who need it.”
Before the deliveries started, several children loaded buckets onto a pickup truck at Goodwin’s sand yard off Route 102. They said they were enjoying the project, even though it was hard work loading and delivering the heavy buckets.
“Yeah!” they yelled in unison when they were asked if they were having fun.
“It’s a cold day to do it, though,” said 9-year old Kari Beers.
