‘One Step Up Students’, Assemble!!

Working on the Deadline

Fans of the Marvel Universe might recognize the paraphrase from a classic closing line from an Avengers movie, and in this instance it serves a double purpose. One Step Up students are providing a heroic assist for Toys for Tots this Christmas and they are assembling thirty skateboards from scratch which they’ll donate to area youngsters through the Toys for Tots annual campaign.

It Gets Easier as You Go Along

Byron Hall, President of the HOPE Coalition at the Lincoln School, said the thirty skateboards were purchased unassembled and this past Friday afternoon, December 14^th, the One Step Up students got to work in the Lincoln School gym, putting the skateboards together and adding decorative decals to each one.

Neischburg and Hall

Byron explained, “We had a construction session earlier in the year for the students themselves, but they decided to help the Toys for Tots organization this year. They raised half the money themselves with the balance taken from the One Step Up fund.  We decided we could get many more boards if they were purchased needing assembly.”

Any Age Can Help

Emily Neischburg from One Step Up said the students took $600 from their funds and then went around town collecting from friends, neighbors and anyone else to raise the balance. “They were out in the rain during the Parade of Lights asking for donations to raise the other $600,” she said.

Hall said these are quality skateboards which would run around $100 apiece, and not the kind you’d find on the shelves from a discount store. Toys for Tots has been made aware of the pending donation as that group will decide which youngsters will receive the boards just prior to their distribution day on December 24^th.

Close to two dozen students were in various corners of the Lincoln School gym with all the parts spread out on sheets on the floor as they used a basic screwdriver and a multi-wrench to put all the parts together and then give them a test push to make sure they were good to go.

Neischburg said the One Step Up group has been at work on a multi-faceted nutrition program which will be unveiled at some point next year. “We’re still several months into the project with several more months to go before we’re showcasing it to the public.  We’re taking a little time off for the skateboard assembly and then we’ll get back once school resumes after the holiday break,” she explained.

By Russ Baldwin