HUMBOLDT — A covey of Humboldt Middle School eighth-graders learned this spring that they can make a difference.
A few months ago with assistance from their math teacher, Mary Durand, the students applied for a Safe Routes to School planning grant, she told board members Monday night.
They used the money to identify and do preliminary planning to improve sidewalks and other features of areas near the middle and high schools and Humboldt Elementary Charter School, two blocks away.
What the students, about 30 with a smaller core group, did from the get-go was comprehensive enough that the Kansas Department of Transportation, which funds safe routes grants, said the students could skip a second engineering phase grant and go directly to the big enchilada, $250,000 for a broad range of construction.
Leading up to where they are now involved not only the initial mini grant but also a town hall meeting, school board presentation and a tour of the area that would be affected with a grant-writing team from the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center, Greenbush.
“The kids are learning that they can make changes in their community,” Durand told the Register. “They said they didn’t think people would listen them, but they’ve learned that they can make a difference.
“I’m so proud of what they’ve done,” she said.
Application deadline for the $250,000 grant is May 31. If Humboldt is among finalists — a decision expected by mid-summer — a team of KDOT engineers will come to town for a walking tour of the school corridor and to listen to detailed explanations from the students about what they want to do.
Sidewalks are buckled in places, most don’t have handicapped accessible curb cuts and drainage is a problem, with flooding of walkways whenever heavy rain falls.
Also, if money is made available, crosswalks will be made more visible to motorists, accessible to pedestrians and will have guards to help kids using them.
The city is on board. City council members voted a resolution Monday in support of the grant.
Durand said she was unsure what role the city might have if the grant money comes to Humboldt, other than approval of plans for work proposed.
She also noted that if the grant were realized, the eighth-graders, who will be high school freshmen in the fall, would continue to be involved in the project, allowing that since they got it started they would see the project through to completion.
SCHOOL BOARD members unanimously approved contracts for certified and classified personnel for 2012-13 following five executive sessions totaling 50 minutes.
They were told that an audit of the food service program produced what Superintendent of Schools K.B. Criss called “an outstanding review.”
