Last weekend, four students from Buckeye Valley Middle School started their Spring Break by giving a local family gifts and supplies for their new Habitat for Humanity home.

The students are part of Tina Francis’s Career Exploration through the Delaware Area Career Center at Buckeye Valley Middle School and worked earlier this year to buy supplies and gifts for Brad and Maggie Crawford, a local family that just finished building their home as part of Habitat for Humanity’s home-ownership program.

The students, Andrew Nibert, Logan Goodrich, Trinity Goodrich and Javier Dominguez, were presented at the home’s dedication last weekend on Belle Avenue in Delaware and gave the family cleaning supplies they purchased in the class and gifts for the Crawford’s daughter, Audrey. Francis said with a smile that the boys in the group insisted on buying Audrey a stuffed animal.

Francis said she wanted students to learn about the sense of community that Delaware County has and asked for a grant from Modern Woodmen to allow students to shop for the Crawfords. Francis said Modern Woodmen provided the grant and she taught students how to compare prices for the same items at different stores and used the shopping exercise as a way to teach students about budgeting.

“They got a taste of budgeting, needs versus wants, cost comparison, we also made some gifts,” Francis said. “It was wrapped up in a nice little bow. I was able to use finance curriculum and these partnerships through Modern Woodmen and Habitat for Humanity (to teach) life skills that they’re going to have to use. The class is all about that.”

Logan Goodrich, an eighth grader, said the class and project helped him learn about finances.

“We learned more about opportunities we might have in the near future, to help people or future jobs,” Logan said.

Logan added that he enjoyed seeing the community come together for a family.

“I learned that things happen that if your house were to burn down, there are people that would help,” Logan Goodrich said.

Nibert, also an eighth grader, said he enjoyed helping a family as part of the family and liked the Dedication Ceremony.

“There’s always people there to help and you can always do something to contribute and help (others),” Nibert said. “It makes me want to volunteer and help people.”

Trinity Goodrich, a seventh grader, said she’s a “people person” and likes helping others.

“Helping people is my thing,” Trinity said. “After hearing (this story) it felt nice to give them things they hadn’t had yet. I didn’t really know anything about finances (before this class but) being in Mrs. Francis’s class has helped me with so much stuff and honestly, I think it’s going to help me in my future. Just being here today has been an amazing feeling.”

Dominguez, an eighth grader, said he enjoyed helping out the Crawfords and doing the project.

“I like helping people and it helped with finances and learning to buy things,” Dominguez said. “This program has helped me become more responsible and it’s a nice program to join because you can help other people with things they need.”

Francis said she was glad the timeline worked out that students could hand-deliver the gifts.

“We do a lot of service projects but because of transportation, we’re not always able to go,” Francis said. “In Buckeye Valley, the district is so large that transportation is always an issue for us. This is the most heartfelt project that we’ve done. They were able to see it come full circle and meet this family and to hear the love in the room… There’s more to school than a textbook or online learning.”

Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903.