Neighbor News
Students Find Satisfaction
The Bridge Academy students build self confidence and sense of satisfaction by making their own writing pens.
There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the pride of accomplishment on a young child’s face. Last week The Bridge Academy was full of students with proud faces as they spent the day learning how to make a personal writing pen from blocks of wood. Bridge parent and pen maker, Phil Weiss, taught all the students how to create their very own personalized writing pen. “I have been making pens with my sons for years. While they are only 11 years old, they have already won awards for their pen designs and craft. They wanted to share this experience with their classmates,” explained Weiss.
Students were able to choose the outside casing of their pen from a variety of pre-made wood blocks designed by Mr. Weiss and his sons. After selecting the perfect casing, students used a lathe to shape the pen to appropriate size. Many of the students have never build anything with their hands and this was the first time they had used machinery of any kind. After shaping the size of the pen, students used 12 step of sanding to smooth the wood and applied an oil finish. The final process was using a specific press to insert the pen mechanics. The entire process taught patience, machine skills, concentration and a sense of accomplishment.
Mr. Weiss was accompanied by a friend and co-worker, Guy Rind. Thanks to corporate support from their employer, Dell Technologies Give Back Program, they were able to take a day off from work to work with the students. Dell Technologies/EMC Gives Back program give employees up to 24 paid hours annually to participate in volunteer activities during the work day. In 2015, employees logged more than 65,000 hours of service during working hours to give back to their local communities.
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The Bridge Academy is a New Jersey approved independent school for students (ages 8 – 18) with language-based learning disabilities, like dyslexia, auditory processing disorder, ADHD and dysgraphia. The school is located in Lawrenceville, NJ and is the only Orton-Gillingham accredited school in New Jersey. For more information on the school, visit www.banj.org or call 609-844-0770.
