Building more than mailboxes

05/30/2007

Editorial: Building more than mailboxes

Now here's a neat idea:

Students from a Coventry High School wood functions class are working with a Knotty Oak Middle School group to address a common need, giving it a little uncommon attention - they're building mailboxes and delivering them to victims of vandalism who've seen their own mailboxes destroyed.

The exercise is educational on a number of levels - in particular because the students have to conform to very specific post office-set criteria for the projects. They learn something about altruism as well as something about conformance to specifications.

But what impresses us most is the originality of the idea. Plenty of students and civic-minded adults do good work to help the poor, or those with diseases, or those suffering major losses (and that's all extremely worthwhile) - but who even thinks about helping those, who, for lack of a better term, are mailbox-impaired?

Technical education teacher Gene Dufault, the students and all others involved deserve praise for a project that's a constructive use of construction skills - and for demonstrating some creativity in the process.