Open Door Christian school builds aquatic wheelchairs

Students at the Open Door Christian School in Graham designed and built special wheelchairs so that their wheelchair-using peers can enjoy the splash pad at the Graham City Pool. The incoming fifth-grade students in teacher Claire Meschkat’s STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) constructed two wheelchairs of different sizes out of PVC and aquatic wheels and fabric.

“We saw an opportunity to bless our community by constructing aquatic wheelchairs to allow more access to the splash pad at the Graham City Pool,” she said.

The students spent several weeks measuring and cutting the PVC to the design and assembling each chair under the supervision of Mrs. Meschkat and former STEM teacher Laci Nelle. The students prayed over the chairs before donating them to the city pool in June. They named the smaller wheelchair “Noah’s Ark” and the larger wheelchair “Lord’s Blessing.”

The students were divided into teams and assigned jobs within each group, including team captain, structural engineer, quality control manager, and media specialist.

Noah’s Ark was constructed by team members Katie Boyle, Hadley Henderson, Piper Meschkat, West Stephens, Everett Hall, and Chandler Todd. Lord’s Blessing was constructed by Blake Enns, Grayson Carr, Madi Rose Walker, Jade Akers, Will Martin, Wyatt Stephens, and Eliza Arrell.