

John Tyson EAST Wins National Award
Elementary school project offers veterans 'Hope for Change'
Two fifth-grade John Tyson Elementary School students received the national Everyday Heroes award at the 2024 Education Accelerated by Service and Technology Conference in Hot Springs.
The EAST Initiative sponsors and the Redfield Police Department hosts the Everyday Heroes competition, which encourages EAST students to develop imaginative ways to support first responders globally.
Luke Ajayi and Kevin Nguyen started the school year thinking they wanted to do a garden-focused EAST project, said Jennifer Boogaart, John Tyson Elementary School EAST facilitator. However, after the students read the article “Thankful for Veterans” in Arkansas Living magazine, they knew they could do something that would help their community as they grew as students and developed new skills.
The “Thankful for Veterans” article by Buddy Hasten, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation and Arkansas Electric Cooperatives president and CEO, discusses the mental health struggles many veterans face. The students were inspired to support local veterans after learning about the free Veterans Crisis Line from the article, which is always available daily and offers hope to veterans and their loved ones.
The students determined they could use 3D design software and hardware to make a coin and their graphic design skills to create a card on which to mount the coin following a student-hosted EAST workshop Luke attended at Westwood Elementary School. They named their project Hope for Change, because the coin resembles monetary change and offers access to a hope for change in veterans’ lives.
“Mental Health matters. Veterans matter. Our project matters,” Kevin said. “We have hope that our coin will lead a veteran to make a change.”
The student team struggled to produce high-quality 3D printed coins, so they collaborated with the Sonora Middle School EAST program, which helped the team use sophisticated technology to create the coins.
Luke and Kevin used TinkerCAD to design a wooden coin displaying the message “Dial 988 then press 1 or text 838255” to inform veterans on where to call or text to get mental health assistance. The students designed the coin and card so veterans could carry them in their pockets to use when needed or to share them with another veteran in need of mental health assistance.
The duo wasn’t sure how they would get their coin and card to veterans, so they brainstormed for about a month before learning John Tyson Elementary third-grade EAST students made Christmas cards for veterans and delivered them to the Veterans Health System of the Ozarks in Fayetteville for distribution.
Luke and Kevin contacted the organization and asked if they would collaborate with them to distribute the coins and cards to their clients, which the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks agreed to do. The health care facility asked the students to make a large amount of the Hope for Change coins and cards so they could pass them out to veterans at a large event in the spring.
Luke and Kevin have learned many first responders are also veterans, so they plan to distribute their coins and cards to local firefighters and police officers as well.
The students shared their EAST project with Hasten due to the inspiration they received from his Arkansas Living article. He invited Luke and Kevin to talk about their EAST project with local electric cooperative board members at the summer Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas Board of Directors meeting.
“What a touching effort by your students,” said Rob Rodel, Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas senior director of corporate communications, in an email to Boogaart. “I did tear up a bit as I love seeing students grasp a need and work to serve others. The issue and their effort means much to Buddy and me.”
Luke and Kevin’s project won the Everyday Heroes competition for their ability to think critically, work together as a team, demonstrate student growth and act as innovative agents of change in their community.
The John Tyson students’ project was selected for the Everyday Heroes award from projects submitted nationwide. Everyday Heroes competition finalists also included the EAST programs from Central Junior High School with Springdale Public Schools and Murfreesboro High School of South Pike County School District.
WATCH: The Hope for Change Video Story
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