Tulsa High School Students Build Ramps For Meals On Wheels

Students at Nathan Hale High School in Tulsa are spending time in class building ramps to help people who have a disability.

Joaquin Gonzalez is a student at Hale who is part of the ramp-building project. He likes the fact these ramps are helping people who might need them.

"It's cool because we help the community out,” said Gonzalez. “Some people don't have enough necessities or enough money to be able to afford these types of things."

Gonzalez said building the ramps has helped him increase his skills in construction.

"It's really useful for a lot of people and the kids that are here,” said Gonzalez. “It does teach us a lot about what we're going to do in life."

The students are building the wheelchair ramps for Meals on Wheels and volunteers install them in houses where people need help getting around.

Kent Harris is a Construction teacher at Hale and wanted the students to be able to design things that can be used in the real world.

"I wanted that to be a connection that they saw,” said Harris. “Not just 'hey, I learned how to do this in class,' and they can't apply it outside of that. And I certainly wanted them to see what they had created being used."

Harris said the students have loved this project and the impact it’s made.

"For them, the pride in seeing the photographs of the completed project that they built, and they can say 'I built that ramp,' is really something that they really light up about," said Harris.

Gonzalez hopes people will see others’ needs and find a way to help.

"I would just like them to be able to help each other,” said Gonzalez. “Just look at each other and be like, 'I want to do this to help the community to be something better.'"

So far, the students have built the pieces for six ramps that Meals on Wheels volunteers have put together.