Boys and Girls Club gets STEM donation
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on April 27, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Jyteria Ingram, 12, paints a bench at the Boys & Girls Club of Wayne County U.S. Cellular's annual Project Green volunteer day.
Like many artists unappreciated in their time, Jyteria Ingram, 12, prefers to work in solitude.
Or at least that's how she felt like working when she and several other students at the Boys & Girls Club joined volunteers from U.S. Cellular to re-paint four of the club's benches recently.
The painting event was a commemoration of the U.S. Cellular donation of $10,000 to the Boys & Girls Club to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs.
Six children and five U.S. Cellular volunteers took part, but it was the children who really took the reigns. Jyteria took on an entire bench by herself, tackling the project with brush and paint and a practiced eye ahead of her years.
She said that she treasures the opportunities she has to practice her craft.
"I just like to paint," she said. "I get to do it at school sometimes during my electives."
Others adopted a more collaborative approach, but each artist still retained their signature style.
Where Je'Marques Chapman, 10, featured the heavy strokes and abstract expression of Van Gogh, De'Marrius Turnage, 11, favored the natural light and bold shadows more common among 19th century impressionists.
De'Marrius kept a steady hand, which belied his relative inexperience with the medium.
"I never painted before," he said.
While largely content to let the resident artists ply their craft, the U.S. Cellular volunteers pitched in where they could.
They mixed paint and helped smooth out the benches.
The $10,000 donation was part of a nationwide program from the company which totals $1.3 million.
"We're just excited to come out here in the community," said U.S. Cellular store manager Jonathan Thorndike. "We get to expand our associate base and do something good."
The volunteers will return later on to repaint the walls of the club's multi-purpose room.
Boys and Girls Club unit director Marvin Ford said that the donated money will be used to buy equipment for the kids, as well as to potentially fund scholarships for kids who are unable to pay for school. Ford said that letting the kids work on projects like this helps give them a sense of ownership and appreciation for the things they use.
"When they walk by and see that bench, they're going to think 'Hey, I did that' and they'll treat it better," he said. "It's also kind of bragging rights."
For artists like De'Marrius, working on the benches provided an opportunity to give back to the community while sharpening his already-considerable skills.
"I just want to spend time with my friends," he said.
"And I want to help out the Boys and Girls Club."
While working, the kids were intensely focused. Ford jokingly said he'd never seen them this quiet.