Charity Gives Students a Step Up: One Desk at a Time

School may still be out for the summer, but University of Florida student and Sarasota High grad, Grier Ferguson, has kept herself, along with area middle school students and teachers, busy in the classroom. Armed with hammers and screwdrivers rather than pens and pencils, volunteers for Desks for Success assembled desks to give to 12 at-risk Sarasota middle school students on Tuesday morning.

Ferguson and her mother, Cady Ferguson, showed up early to unpack all 12 boxes of Essential Homes brand student desks.

Before any other volunteers arrived, neatly stacked piles of laminate desk components were lined up along one wall of a portable. Alongside each stack were carefully organized bags of screws and other special assembly pieces. In front of each stack was a set of instructions turned to the appropriate page for its corresponding step in the assembly process.

The University of Florida journalism undergraduate initiated the Desks for Success program in June 2010, when she teamed up with local students to build four desks for at-risk McIntosh Middle School students, who were chosen by teachers and administrators.

After the success of last year’s project, Ashoka’s Youth Venture, a national organization whose aim is to assist young people in starting ventures, provided Desks for Success with a $1000 grant that allowed the group to purchase the 12 desks that were assembled on Tuesday.

Ferguson’s idea for Desks for Success stemmed from furniture banks, organizations that provide donated furniture for families in need. Ferguson noticed that while furniture such as beds, dressers and couches were widely available, desks rarely were.

“I was thinking about how important it is for kids to have a place to study, do their homework and work on projects,” Ferguson said. “The desk itself is important, but what’s even more important is the psychological impact these kids get from receiving the gift and finally having their own space.”

Ferguson explained that many students struggle to do their schoolwork at home. Their workspace is often the kitchen table or the living room couch, where noisy siblings, television and whatever else is going on in the house cause constant distractions.

“These desks give them their own place to work in their own home,” explained Jeri Cocchi, a business teacher at McIntosh Middle School who started volunteering for Desks for Success when Ferguson initiated the program last year.

“It becomes a sacred area. It gives them their own special official place to do their homework,” Cocchi said.

Each student who receives a desk also receives a letter hand-signed by the Desks for Success team that says, “All of these people care about you. They have all, either physically or in spirit, laid their hands on this desk in dedication to you and your success.”

“When they receive the gift of a desk, they see that people care; that people are supporting them and rooting for their success. That’s important on a psychological level, too,” Ferguson said.

Cocchi remembers a time in a not-too-distant past when Ferguson was one of her students at McIntosh Middle School.

“She’s been a leader since she was a baby,” Cocchi said of Ferguson. “I think the fact that those desks came from a former student made them even more meaningful to the kids who received them last year.”

Of the 12 desks built yesterday, some will be given to McIntosh Middle School students, while others will be given to students from .

Ferguson said that Desks for Success is geared specifically toward middle school children because grades 6 – 8 are a crucial turning point for students as they make the transition into high school. She chooses desks that are small enough to fit easily in most homes, but large enough that students can continue to use them comfortably throughout high school.

Ferguson encourages middle and high school students to volunteer to help build the desks.

“I think it’s really important to have students helping other students,” Ferguson said.

Carter Donaldson, a 7th grade student at came out with his father to help build the desks on Tuesday. Volunteer work and community service hours are valued and required by Donaldson’s school as well as his Suncoast Athletics baseball team.

“I have a desk at home for my homework, and it makes it easier to do,” said Donaldson, a furniture-assembly veteran who has had experience putting together Ikea products with his father in the past.

“Community service is really important because it helps people," Donaldson said. "I think these desks will help other kids.”

Ferguson said that her long-term goal is to eventually expand the program to all area schools, and perhaps even beyond Sarasota. She would also ultimately like to see the students building the desks from scratch rather than relying on pre-manufactured materials.

“So far, I’ve just been so happy about the support of the teachers, administrators and the students. So many people have contributed to the success of the program,” she said. “I’m excited to see how it can grow.”

When Ferguson returns to Gainesville for school for the fall semester, she plans to continue working on the project by recruiting help from the diverse student body at UF to design an official logo for Desks for Success.

Gulf Coast Gives, a community foundation whose breadth ranges from Boca Grande to Manatee County, recently became involved with Desks for Success. Currently, Gulf Coast Gives is working to help Desks for Success reach its goal of raising $540 to purchase and build 9 more desks. Donations can be made online.