Friday, August 06, 2010
Teen gives back to USI's Children's Learning Center
Kids gather around fencing built by Evan Weinzapfel at the Children's Learning Center.
The University figured into Weinzapfel's Boy Scout experiences, too. As a young scout, he camped next to Bokelman #3 School at the Bent Twig Outdoor Education Center and attended the scouting merit badge programs held on campus. Thirteen years later Weinzapfel is preparing to earn his Eagle Scout Award, the highest award presented to a Boy Scout. As he collected ideas of where to do his service project, good memories of times spent at USI prompted him to call Pamela Buschkill, manager of the Children's Learning Center. Weinzapfel said, "I wanted to do something more than spreading mulch on a trail. Something that would last." Buschkill said, "We were interested in qualifying as a nature playground, and one of the items we were lacking was an official entrance to the play area. However, we did not have any plan on how we could accomplish this on our budget." Thinking a pergola might be a natural entrance in the playground, Weinzapfel began his research at Lowe's Home Improvement. He built the pergola along with benches in his family's barn. Upon completion, the parts were brought to campus on trailers and installed over a weekend. Acknowledging the fact that a lot of paperwork goes into earning the Eagle Scout Award, Weinzapfel enjoyed the creative process of picking out and building the pergola, benches, and fencing. "It was fun," he said. "I had a lot of help. My dad and grandpa knew what they were doing and helped me a lot. But the fund-raising events to buy the materials, planning the details of the process, the interviews in front of the review committee, that was all me. The planning of the project was more stressful than the actual building of the project." Buschkill said, "I was out of town the weekend the project was put together. When I came to work the following Monday, it seemed to have magically appeared. I was speechless when I first saw it. Not only did we have the fence and pergola, but he had reseeded the hillside and our paving tiles had been reset. The benches were a definite plus and are thoroughly enjoyed by the children as well as the staff." Completing his Eagle Scout project has been rewarding for Weinzapfel. "The younger boys look up to you like a mentor. But it also feels good to give back to USI." |
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