Woodward Children’s Center assists students to thrive

The Woodward Children’s Center of Freeport, an approved non-public school for grades 9-12 in service of special needs students with the classification of autism and emotional disability, held its second annual Car Show on Dec. 21, showcasing students’ creativity and innovative thinking.

“The Car Show has allowed the students to incorporate technology and their ability to be creative, and to produce unique projects,” the center’s program coordinator, Danielle Barry, said.

The show’s panel of judges comprised of Woodward faculty evaluated the entries based on three criteria: the design of the cars (both bodies and wheels), the paint job/presentation, and the attention to details. The winner, 12th grader Taylor Robinson, earned a prize of a $100 general gift card, and the second-place winner, Sadie Vazquez, 11th grade, won a $50 card.

The show originally began as a transportation project in the students’ elective STEM class, taught by Dane Dewar. Students were challenged to find a way to transport small items from point A to point B.

“There was this question, and the best way to solve this problem was to build a vehicle,” Dewar said. “They were designing ideas, and when the building process looked good, I decided to display them, and that’s how the show came about.”

With a start-to-finish operation of two to three months, brainstorming ideas sparked the two-month process of measuring, cutting, sanding, and designing the wooden cars.

The vehicles were all made entirely of wood, which necessitated a bit more manual labor than the students might have preferred. “Sanding is what you have to do to get the wood to be smooth, especially when creating cars and wheels with curves,” he said. “The kids didn’t like it, but they did it, and they did it well.”

Other than the tedious process of sanding, Dewar added, there weren’t many obstacles for students to overcome besides paints reacting poorly to one another. “Paints react with different paints, and unfortunately you have to sand the wood down and paint again,” he explained.

Dewar was clearly impressed by the students’ creativity. “They all came up with something totally unique based on the same prompt,” he said. “To see all the drawings come to life in different variations, it’s really cool.”

Greg Ingino, the Woodward center’s executive director and a Car Show judge, shared Dewar’s sentiments. He applauded the students’ abilities in creating such unique pieces on their own while keeping to the assignment’s guidelines.

“The students took several pieces of wood, glued them together, sanded the wood down and molded it,” Ingino said. “And what was even more incredible was that it was all painted by their own creativity, what they wanted their own cars to look like.”

The Woodward center focuses on offering exceptional programming for students with social, emotional and behavioral disorders, in an environment where they can flourish.

“I hope to continue doing this project every year with my classes,” Dewar said. “The cars keep getting better with each year. They look amazing.