When Catalyst Alternative High School students made a wish, the staff at both Catalyst and Chehalem Online Academy found a way to make it come true.
Staff members were especially motivated to help since Catalyst students aimed to support younger students’ education. Catalyst freshmen Taylor Wirostek and Zachary House sought to provide hands-on activities to COA students. Meanwhile, siblings Jaysha and Janzel Torres-Garibay, both Catalyst students, wished to bring robotics into the lives of young COA students, such as their younger brother, Jomar Torres-Garibay, a fourth-grader.
Staff and students combined the two ideas, creating a hands-on event for COA students on Jan. 29. The event featured how to: make stickers, hammer nails, operate a small robot, and use a skateboard. Well, students weren’t exacting using skateboards but fingerboards, which are tiny replicas. The mini replicas came complete with a model of a skate park made as a part of Catalyst’s school-wide Art Design Project, which students will donate to Chehalem Park and Recreation District.
COA third-grader Ethan Casasanto especially loved learning the fundamentals of skateboarding, with instruction from Nick Hendrickson, a Catalyst sophomore. Yet Ethan was stunned when he learned that the event came from the minds of older students.
“I’d say that they’re very, very smart,” Ethan said. “This takes a big mind to think of this.”
The staff seemed to feel the same way, stepping into the background and letting their students lead a collective effort to support younger students in the classroom.
Jaysha Torres-Garibay, a senior at Catalyst, worked at the robotics booth since that’s her passion.
“I’m getting to teach little kids; see what gets them inspired; see their eyes glow up as they learn something new,” she said.
Wirostek could be found with the COA students who were practicing the proper hammering technique to drive a nail into a tree stump.
“I feel like kids need new life experiences and need to be shown that people are nice,” she said. “I love working with kids. I think they’re cool, and pure and innocent.”
The younger students respected the effort. COA fifth-grader Robin Arrigo was impressed that older students had led the project and touched that they would take the time to do so.
“I think that’s really cool because trying to help kids figure out things is a cool thing,” Robin said. “I like learning new things.”
Because of some hard-working and caring older students (and staff), she had a perfect chance to do so.