Edgewood Middle School students worked to create four customized and modified 12-volt vehicles for children. Photos provided.

WARSAW — Warsaw Community Schools recently announced that Abbi Richcreek, Project Lead The Way teacher at Edgewood Middle School, has successfully launched a school-community partnership for GoBabyGo!

Richcreek promotes STEM education through her classroom curriculum, after-school clubs and special projects such as GoBabyGo! According to a WCS press release, Richcreek reached out to secure funding for a second year and is grateful for the following key contributors: Warsaw’s VFW 1126, the Korreck Family and Kosciusko Endowment Youth Services for a grant through Kosciusko Community Foundation.

Richcreek searched for four beneficiaries, recruited 20 Edgewood students who committed to a five-week after school STEM activity and partnered with mentoring engineers from local companies. Growing from three to four children for 2020, Emmit, Zorey, Jordynn and Bryar will each receive a customized and modified 12-volt vehicle. With this mobility gift, these children will have increased independent movement experiences that allow expression, play, socialization and exploration for learning.

Eight Edgewood Middle School students are returning to serve as leaders on their engineering teams. Emmit, Zorey, Jordynn and Bryar will each have a team of Edgewood students consulting with mentors to work through a design process to meet the objective of engineering a vehicle that meets the unique needs of their child client. Richcreek also arranged to have Physical Therapist Dr. Aaron Turner on-site to answer questions about mobility so Edgewood students can make assessments and engineer alterations to create a specialized vehicle.

Richcreek would like to thank all who support the GoBabyGo! Project. She appreciate the ongoing partnerships with volunteers from Depuy, Zimmer Biomet, Dalton Foundry and Paragon Medical, who serve as mentors and give their time and talents to enrich the lives of others. Richcreek believes that together, Edgewood students and STEM mentors can make a lasting difference in the lives of Emmit, Zorey, Jordynn, Bryar and their families.