OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Going to school physically might be over for Blue Valley students, but that is not stopping them from carrying on with projects and events they had planned. They are now just having to adjust to make it happen.
The Makers Club at Blue Valley North High School is a made up of a bunch of teens who love to create. It involves teens from a design class and their hacky sack club.
The group was approached last year with the idea of a fundraiser. They decided to have a hacky sack tournament to benefit Keep the Spark Alive.
The non-profit was started by a Overland Park family that lost their son, Chad Harrell, in 2017 to suicide. Harrell went to Blue Valley North. He struggled with depression and anxiety.
"He had this energy," said Campbell Collins, a makers club member and former teammate of Harrells.
Collins is also part of the makers club and helped put on last year's fundraiser. It raised $1,500 and so they decided to try it again. But, because of the Coronavirus, they group had to rethink the fundraiser.
That's when they came up with "Good Vibes." Students throughout the day on Saturday will go live on their Instagram and other social media accounts doing activities to promote the non-profit and mental health.
"Right now someone is going to throw clay and make some pottery. We have someone doing some bullet journaling and a demonstration of some hand letter writing. There is a painting one and then one of our friends is going to teach how to play hacky sack," said Collins.
The students hope to raise money, but also remind people that there are ways to help you mentally when stuck inside.
"We made it clear that we would want something like this to exist because it's so easy to kind of fall into this pit of boredom and depression. We wanted to make this happen not only for everyone else but for ourselves. It's something we can do that is in our power to give back and inspire other people actually use this time," said Adriana Cordero, senior at Blue Valley North High School.
The event kicks off at 10 a.m. and you can follow them on their social media accounts at @BVNMakers
