It was a team effort in Holliston, Massachusetts to help a little girl who was having trouble playing a certain sport. Her teachers turned the problem into an assignment, and her classmates delivered.
Ava Jeye is in the seventh grade at Robert Adams Middle School in Holliston and has cerebral palsy. The 12-year-old is in a wheelchair and up until a few weeks ago, she was not able to play soccer without the ball getting stuck, but thanks to a new adaptive device, she can score.
The device was designed by two of her classmates, Ella Bosselman and Lucy Maurao, who used broom handles and foam board along with other re-purposed items to make it. It was chosen by Jeye out of dozens of other adaptive designs made by students throughout the school.
“In all of the school, Ava liked ours the best,” they said. “And we are so proud of her.”
STEM teacher Michelle Roy and wellness education teacher Brandon Kwas collaborated to come up with the assignment as part of the school’s Holliston Innovates initiative.
“It was definitely my favorite project this year” Roy said. “I mean this is real learning.”
Roy also asked students to use only re-purposed materials, such as PVC pipes, to turn trash into treasure.
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Students got to see the purpose of the project up close last month when Jeye played soccer in the Special Olympics and scored.
“I was happy,” Jeye said. “And I said, 'thank you for making it for me.'”
Next year’s Special Olympics sport is track and field, and the students have yet to come up with something to help Jeye with that, but they are already thinking about it.
