4 minute read
Driving Community Engagement
The smell of fresh wood, the screech of a hand saw and the grind of a sander filled MSOE’s Construction Science and Engineering Center this winter as students got to work creating 100 desks for local families in need during the university’s Desk Drive.
Over the past year, we were all too familiar with the intricacies of working from home. For many households, parents and children were working and learning together under one roof, battling for bandwidth and quiet workspaces. Desks became luxury real estate in homes and hot ticket items for online purchases, causing a spike in prices.
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Natalie Villegas ’12, project coordinator in the CREATE Institute, and Anne-Marie Warren, an architectural engineering senior and CREATE Institute student fellow, came up with the idea to host a Desk Drive to help mitigate the economic burden placed on households to purchase desks for school age children.
“Anne-Marie and I were discussing how difficult it was to find desks for ourselves during the pandemic. We started to think if it is hard for us, it must be even more difficult for people that have been hit with economic hardship,” said Villegas.
The Desk Drive was the CREATE Institute’s first studentled interdisciplinary project. More than 50 students came together to apply the skills they learned in class to a hands-on learning experience that gives back to the community, two hallmarks of an MSOE education.
“The Desk Drive is important because not only are we able to help K-12 students in the Milwaukee area, we’re also able to encourage MSOE students to inspire change,” said Warren, student project coordinator. “The Desk Drive perfectly encapsulates what the CREATE Institute aims to do: create well-rounded individuals who, amongst other things, are value creators.”
In today’s virtual world, no desk is complete without a computer. That’s where Digital Bridge comes in. Digital Bridge, a local non-profit that connects vulnerable populations and under-funded organizations with digital resources, donated 100 desktop computers to accompany the desks. The non-profit originated as a student organization at MSOE and Jeff Hanson ’13 expanded it into the independent, non-profit organization it is today, providing technical resources across three continents.
MSOE partnered with Milwaukee Public Schools and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee to help distribute the desks and computers to deserving students like Darnell Bully, 7th grade; Shamyra Jackson, 7th grade; and Rajahnae Marfitt, 4th grade.
“I was really surprised when I got the desk,” said Jackson, beaming with delight. “It was so exciting. It really changed my life! I never had anything that big before!” Jackson especially enjoys being able to see her classmates’ faces on Zoom on the large desktop computer screen.
ANNE-MARIE WARREN, ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING SENIOR AND CREATE INSTITUTE STUDENT FELLOW
Bully and Marfitt echoed Jackson’s excitement. Prior to owning the desk, the students had to get creative with their learning spaces.
“Before I had the desk, I did my work at the kitchen table,” said Bully.
He wasn’t alone with improvised workspaces. For many students, virtual learning turned bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms into classrooms while dressers, kitchen and coffee tables were transformed into makeshift desks.
“I felt happy when I got the desk because I didn’t have to do my homework on the floor anymore,” said Marfitt. “I like the desk because I have a spot to put my books and pencils on and do my homework.”
As the student project coordinator, Anne-Marie Warren (left) helped guide volunteers like architectural engineering major Morgan Duffus (right) throughout the course of the Desk Drive.
The desks were designed by industrial engineering students in Dr. Leah Newman’s Ergonomics class. The simple design included four wood pieces that are easy to assemble with two adjustable heights to accommodate students of all sizes. The pieces fit together perfectly to create a stable design that’s easy to deconstruct and transport.
With space limitations, safety restrictions, failing equipment and hundreds of splinters, the Desk Drive had its challenges along the way, but seeing students’ faces when they received the desks made it all worth it.
“I feel very humbled and honored to give back to my community,” said Villegas. “Hearing about how the families were going to utilize the desks and computers and seeing how excited the students were was a priceless experience.”
Rajahnae Marfitt, 4th grade
RAJAHNAE MARFITT, 4TH GRADE
Knowing the desks would make a positive impact on students across the greater Milwaukee area is what drew in MSOE students like Warren from the start.
“It is such a great feeling to know that all of the work that has been put into this project is going to benefit so many young people,” said Warren. “The Desk Drive felt like a small but mighty way to encourage students in the Milwaukee community to keep pushing through these hard times by providing them a space to continue learning and growing.”
