Broken Arrow Student Designs Reading Space For Her Former Kindergarten Teacher

Sometimes, we have ideas, but we don't have a way to turn them into reality. And when you're a teenager without any income, it can be a little more challenging. 

But one Broken Arrow Student found a way to give back to her former teacher.

Think back to your days in kindergarten. The books you read and the name of your teacher may have faded in your memory.

But Lexi Gardner remembers her teacher at Country Lane Primary and the impact she had on her life.

"She supported me in everything I did and made me want to learn, and I feel like that's very special," Lexi said.

Lexi is all grown up now- a junior at Vanguard Academy- but she never forgot the teacher who made her feel so special. So, she thought of her right away when she was tasked with an assignment in her design class.

"Our unit is called Pay it Forward, and our ‘how might we’ was ‘How might we better the Broken Arrow Public Schools experience for grades K through 9th?’ and so I instantly thought, I want to give back to someone who had an impact on my life," she said.

"She reached out to me and told me she was working on a pay-it-forward project, where she was going to school now at Vanguard, and wanted to do something for my classroom," Lana Pearson said.

That something is a reading space.

Lexi and her partner Kalyn Degrate spent a year doing research on how to design the space.

With the help of a grant, they were able to make it come to life.

"Once we found Karma for Cara, I knew immediately we should apply for that grant because they focus on youth-led service projects, which is exactly what we are doing," Lexi said.

Whether it's the Magic School Bus or Pete the Cat, this space will turn students into bookworms.

And you never know how those early memories could become inspiration in the future.

Lexi and Kalyn got $800 through the Karma for Cara Foundation for this project.

Anyone under 18 can apply for a micro-grant from them.

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