Students build bridge to help children walk
Mesa Legend
MCC students, Mollie Heiden and Joshua Okken built a therapeutic bridge to help special needs children as part of a service learning project last semester. “The bridge we constructed was a rope bridge,” said Heiden, psychology major. “This makes it a little less stable, it sways and shakes a little when you walk across.” According to Okken, a recreation management major, the unstable features of the new bridge offers recreational therapy for patients at Boulder Mountain Therapy in Mesa. “The bridge mainly helps special needs children and adults or ‘clients’ who have difficulty with balance and also helps them with their cognitive abilities as well,” Okken said. “By using the rope bridge, the clients get to use different muscles that they might not use as often.”
Photos courtesy of Mollie Heiden
The project took about 15 hours over a two week period to complete, and although both students had some experience in design and construction, both students give credit to a special volunteer, Heiden’s father, for presenting solutions to challenges throughout the project. “If it wasn’t for the help of Mollie’s dad P.J., I don’t think that the bridge would have been completed on time,” Okken said.
During one especially difficult time constructing the bridge, Heiden said her father helped figure out a solution when the planks of the bridge were too heavy to be strung by the rope. “Luckily, we had my dad and his resourceful brain to think of a quick and reliable fix,” Heiden said. “We drove over to the closest Lowes bought some more supplies, and the bridge was standing strong.”
Despite the challenges, both classmates said the most rewarding experience took place after the bridge was completed. “We got to watch one of Boulder Mountain’s clients walk, and then run across the bridge,” Heiden said. “It felt great to have solved our problem and see the bridge stand, but nothing beats the smile on that little kid’s face.” Okken echoed similar sentiments. “The biggest reward was seeing the smiles of children playing on it and knowing that building that bridge would have a lasting effect on them and possibly help them and many others with any issues they may be facing,” Okken said.
According to Duane Oakes, Faculty Director for the Center for Community and Civic Engagement at MCC, service learning projects like that of Okken and Heiden’s, teach students to help the community through hands on experience. “As an instructor, when a student gets excited about learning, because they are really doing it and now they can see firsthand about what recreation and therapy recreation is, then I feel like I’ve been able to help make a difference in their education,” Oakes said.
According to Oakes, in 2014, 1,163 MCC students provided service learning to the community, equaling a total of 26,561 hours of service. Oakes’ course, Lesisure and the Quality of Life (REC 120) raises money from the Lost and Found sale on campus and gives it to students to write mini grants to fund a service learning project of their choice. Students pick from a variety of community organizations and agencies at the Community Engagement Expo on campus which is held every semester. “I would, without a doubt, recommend this class to other students,” Heiden said. “I really enjoyed being exposed to and better understanding how much recreation is a part of our everyday lives.” The Spring Community Engagement Expo will be held on Feb. 4 and 5 at the Southern and Dobson campus.
