Sixth Grader Steals the Show at School Board Meeting

Project Based Learning in action -- Liam Few presents research and solutions by Rachel Dahl --  A group of nine high school and middle school teachers just returned from a trip to Southern California where they visited several schools to gather information about Project Based Learning. One major component of PBL and a piece that the PBL team saw in action was “exhibition” — when a student presents evidence of the learning that took place during the project and provides proof of what they actually learned. The group presented their findings from the trip to the board and then, ironically, directly following their report, Liam Few a 6th grader in Lani Mori’s class at the middle school made a presentation to the board regarding the poor condition of the track and field at the middle school.  Few has been working with two classmates, Frankie Cortez and Malian Cruz to research the issue of the current conditions of the track and attempt to find possible solutions to what they see as a “terrible ‘work’ environment.” Teacher Lani Mori accompanied Few, who spoke to the board and was heard by many middle school teachers who stayed at the meeting late to support him and listen to his well prepared, in-depth presentation. “This kid is one in a million,” said Mori as she introduced him. “No one cares about our track because of what it looks like,” explained Few, as he presented the “current problems” surrounding the track and field. He said it is difficult to practice on the track and the field, and nearly impossible to do physical education classes. The grass is mostly gone on the field and when the track is wet from sprinklers or rain the drains don’t work and it turns into a complete mess. “The drains don’t work, the water goes into a French drain under the field which plugs up with dirt and gets clogged,” explained Few. Because the field is dirt it becomes a mud pit and impacts the students at the middle school who also use the track and field for lunch recess. “We want to go out there for lunch,” said Few. “This week we’ve been testing in three-hour blocks and using our chrome books all day, we want to go outside but can’t when the track looks like that and we have to go in the gym which is horrible.” “It looks like prison,” he said, “we look around and we’re like, ‘man we have no freedom’ and kids throw their trash on the ground.”  He said kids just wonder why they should even care about it if no one else does. “We feel unimportant – if our education is important why do we have a track and field that looks like that.” According to Few, part of the problem with the field is the natural soil condition and the Sodium Absorption Ratio, or SAR. At great length he explained the research he did to find that the sodium in the water, combined with the high alkali soil, basically has killed each batch of grass that has been planted over the years. Few also talked to several people as he researched the issue of the field and attempted to find possible solutions. He met with Steve Moon of Lumos and Associates, Robert Erquiaga with the City of Fallon, and Ozzie Henke who runs the maintenance department for the school district.  He was able to get estimates for costs to fix the track and field as well as costs for the possibility of installing turf, which would completely get around the problems with grass. Costs to install turf would be approximately $1.24 million and it would have to be replaced every 10 – 15 years. He also received several different cost estimates for replacing grass and remediation the field which would generally be around $96,000. To fix the track would be an estimated $293,000. In addition to presenting the problem and possible solutions, Few also presented possible ways that remediation of the track and field could be accomplished. He talked about fundraising, student volunteers, pulling together community resources, using volunteers from the NAS Fallon, possible grants through different organizations that use the facility, and donations from organizations.

                                  Discussion followed by the board members who applauded Few for his work and encouraged him to continue working and go back and research how much work and money has been invested in that field over the years. Phil Pinder said, “grants and the community are the way to go.” He said the entire community uses the field, not only the middle school students. Buckmaster said that what needed to be done was to dig out the top three feet of the soil and replace it. “I know I’m just a kid, but you don’t have to do all that,” responded Few, going on to explain the technicality of SAR and the possibilities of remediating the field. “Do you want a job?” asked Buckmaster in jest and incredulity, “seriously.” “Depends on what it pays,” responded Few, without hesitation and to great enjoyment of the crowd. Carmen Schank said that she had recently seen a turf field that was heavily used and felt it may be durable. She encouraged Few saying, “it’s all about money…you’re learning this, you’re going to have to have some fundraising programs, get the community involved somehow, someone is going to have to initiate it and get the whole school to take it on as a project…have kids commit, have someone get the ball rolling, it takes time.” “So that’s what Liam did,” said Mori. “Liam’s done the ground work because he saw an issue and he’s done all this work for you. It’s not Liam’s job to find the money to fix this field.” She said Liam addressed the issue and showed the board some possible solutions. “He’s here asking you to do that, for you to form a committee to help the school, he’s given you the information and that’s what he’s asking you to do.” Matt Hyde thanked Few for his work saying, “you are to be commended, you went to a lot of work here, you are an inspiration and a leader and thank you for putting all this together for us.” Kathryn Whitaker promised Few the board would address this issue at a future meeting for action and would make sure to let him know when it comes back to the agenda.   Always know when meetings and community events are happening – keep an eye on the community calendar at https://www.thefallonpost.org/events/ If you like what we’re doing, please support our effort to provide local, independent news and contribute to The Fallon Post, your online news source for all things Fallon.