Using Canned Goods To Build Help For Charity

Intermediate students have developed a unique project with volunteer mentors, using canned goods to build help for charity.

Click image to purchase book

At Johnson City intermediate schools, students collaborated with professional engineers in using over 1600 cans to build an American flag and an Etch-a-Sketch board. The cans will be donated to Catholic Charities.

20 students worked with mentors from BAE systems on the structures which were displayed in the middle school lobby.

“BAE is such a great support,” said Principal Peg Kucko. She went on to say that BAE systems provided more than $2,000 to buy the cans used to create the structures.

According to Kucko, tjhe American flag and Etch-a-Sketch were chosen as they were based on designs that were built through the official National Construction Charity which was the inspiration of the event.

Through building structures with cans, students learned important attention to detail, and listening skills following directions.

At one point the Etch-a-Sketch “Canstruction” fell over, but students and mentors built it better than before. The process of rebuilding and solving problems with innovation was a valuable benefit of the mentoring program.