| 03/23/2007 |
| Knotty Oak student group receives $60,000 grant |
| By:NICOLE WIETRAK |
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COVENTRY - In 2004, acts of vandalism cost the town of
Coventry$170,000. That's a lot of money. That same sum could
have paid for four new teachers, a new fire truck, a ball field
or 300 new computers. Last year, a group of seventh and eighth grade students at Knotty Oak Middle School recognized the problem in their town and they wanted it stopped. Thanks to a $60,000 grant from Rhode Island Learn and Serve America, now they have the means to do it. Although the group Students Against Vandalism Everywhere, or SAVE for short, had been making a difference in the community before the grant made its way to the students, the financial support that the grant offers will allow the students to do more to fight this problem then they ever imagined. SAVE will receive $20,000 a year for three years, and during that time will use the grant money to work with the town police and fire departments to gather pertinent vandalism crime statistics and track exactly where vandalism strikes. Beginning with Coventry's freshman class of 2007-2008, SAVE students will be purchasing and using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), digital cameras and local crime data to pinpoint areas of vandalism and chart them on a map. According to Social Studies teacher Charles Blanchette, who has taken the group under his wing and serves as the students' advisor, each different type of vandalism (grafitti, ATV erosion, etc.) will be color coded, complete with a picture and thorough description of the area as well as the date and time of each crime. The goal, Blanchette said, is to increase crime reporting and reduce the number and types of vandalism over a three-year period. SAVE was started over a year ago by middle school student Taylor Therrien who decided that she had had enough of vandalism in her town. Therrien's seventh grade class had taken a field trip to Knotty Oak Cemetery with the purpose of cleaning up the area. She along with her classmates were horrified at what they saw: gravestones had been knocked down, veterans' flags snapped in half as well as trash littered throughout the grounds. Blanchette told Therrien that if she could round up other students who were as passionate about starting an anti-vandalism group as she was, he would help her do it. Sixteen months later, the group has grown to over 20 members, and it's clear that these students are in it to make a difference. Frequently, the group assists other schools and area residents who have become the victims of vandalism. This week, the group traveled to a national Youth Crime Watch America conference in Denver, Colo. to speak about their ongoing efforts to combat vandalism at their school and in their community. Next week, they will travel to Maine to give a similar presentation at a KIDS Consortium conference. Last June, the group met Attorney General Patrick Lynch for the first time to discuss vandalism and how it affects kids and the community. Two weeks ago, the students met with Lynch again, this time, to present him with a SAVE t-shirt that they had made for their upcoming conferences. The group is hoping to eventually reach out on a state-wide level to educate kids about the dangers and destructive results that participating in vandalism can bring. Rhode Island, although it's the smallest state with just over a million residents, has a higher per capita rate of vandalism than California. "This is the slide show that we're going to be showing in Denver," said student Nick Paiva during a SAVE meeting. "It shows what we've done, what we plan to do and it also informs people about vandalism, like what it is exactly." Even though most people think they can safely assume what vandalism is, many do not realize that vandalism goes well beyond smashing a window or spray painting a fence. Vandalism is everywhere, and some people might be participating in it without even realize it. Paiva explained that vandalism can include mailbox smashing, egging cars or buildings, breaking gravestones, graffiti, A.T.V. erosion, website vandalism and pulling a false fire alarm. One of the biggest examples of vandalism is something that many people do everyday, several times a day: throwing cigarette butts on the ground. Paiva then told of how SAVE students painted over the graffiti on the school's bathroom stalls, one of the many times the group has cleaned up acts of vandalism around their school. "Two days later, some people had peeled most of the paint off," said Paiva. When asked if acts such as that discouraged the students and their efforts, SAVE member Ian Casey said the group has the persistence to look beyond those things. "What Mr. B tries to tell us is that if you fix it a few times, and keep fixing it, it will send a message to the vandal," said Casey, "and eventually it will stop." These kids work hard at what they do. In order to prepare for their conferences, the students have been staying in for lunch every day in order to squeeze in more planning time. "Even though this is contained in a small community, it's really opening up with our website and with our trip to Denver," said Paiva of how the group is expanding. SAVE's website, www.stopvandalism.org, has had over 3,000 visitors since its inception; that's a lot of attention and it's sure to grow in the near future. Blanchette said that he along with all the students were extremely thankful for all the support they have received from their supporters, such as KIDS Consortium and the Rhode Island Department of Education. "These kids do their homework and they really put their heart into this," said Blanchette. "We're just getting started."
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