A group of students from Swofford Career Center, in Inman, SC, recently had a chance to explore their chosen course of study outside of school - and to provide some much-needed help for their neighbors along the way.
Students in Craig Seay’s electricity classes, working with Spokes of Hope, a non-profit based out of Longs, SC and with Carolinas Current, an electrical company in Charlotte, NC, helped to re-wire a home and business in Chimney Rock. This area was devastated by Hurricane Helene last September.
“Work has been going on since October, and we were able to meet with a few people and meet Andrew from Carolinas Current,” Seay said. “He’s allowing our students to come up there and rough-in a residence and a business that he’s been working on.”
The trip is something the career center tries to emphasize.
“That’s one thing at Swofford that we try to do,” Seay said. “We do a lot of stuff for nonprofits in our area, and we try to teach the kids that this is what matters: what you give back to the community, what you’re supposed to be about. I try to teach my kids what would Jesus do. We’re not trying to just make electricians and carpenters and welders. We’re trying to make men who are going to be good daddies, good fathers, good pillars of the communities who will look for opportunities to help others and serve their community.”
Hunter Hill, a senior from Boiling Springs High, sees the rewards in both facets of the visit.
“It’s a great way for us to give back to the community,” he said. “It’s just a great opportunity to help people who have been affected by Hurricane Helene, and a good way for us to get experience out in the real world.You get real hand-on work outside of school, not just sitting in a classroom and being told to do something. It’s a great experience.”
Seay said the fact the group might be able to bring some kind of normalcy to the people they’re helping is plenty of reason to go.
“They’re trying to give some of these folks hope,” he said. “If you go up there, you’ll see. Some of these people have lost everything they own. Some of them have no hope right now. Everything they’ve built their home and their whole life around is gone. These shop owners, this is the way they make their living. Some of them live in the back of their stores. Everything they have is gone.”
Help with the prolonged recovery from the storm’s devastation is something that Harrison’s is determined to help. Kevin Harrison said he’s excited to see student groups assisting with the recovery process.
“It’s great,” he said. “You know, that’s what neighbors are supposed to do. And when the hurricane came through, we knew we had some access through some of our accounts that we service in those areas to actually have boots on the ground right after it happened, and it was just true devastation. And when you see schools and community members stepping up to take care of their neighbors, especially kids, it just really gives you a really good feeling about our future. Sometimes teenagers and others get bad raps, but to see a group of people coming together to let’s look at our neighbors and what we can do to help them, it’s just really heartwarming. It’s what we should all be doing. Treat other people the way you want to be treated.”
Seay said that’s one of the cornerstones of what Swofford wants to see in the community.
“That’s what our principal, our assistant principal, all our people want us to teach our kids that,” he said. “They want us to do this kind of work for folks. Several years ago, the building construction class and the electrical class rebuilt a house that had burned for our custodian at Boiling Springs High School. Our kids did all the labor on it. That’s the mentality and the culture we want to try to cultivate over here at Swofford. You do for other people.
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