HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Those who drive by Morgan Elementary School in Hutchinson may notice a map of the United States on the playground. It has a new coat of paint and sealing thanks to a teen who decided to repair and repaint the art for a Boy Scout project.
Steven Hayse says the idea to repair the piece started a few years back.
“There was an adult that was friends with one of my leaders who was on the PTO Board here at Morgan,” Hayse said. “She came up with the project saying how the map was in disrepair, it needed some painting done to it, there was a crack running through it.” He was approached about the project and just took it from there.
Hayse says he ran out of time to do the project last year because school started. He made sure the project got done this year.
Hayse says this work was his Eagle Scout project for the Boy Scouts. “The Eagle project is kind of the last step in scouting. The Eagle Scout is the highest rank you can achieve as an adult,” Hayse said. “I’m trying to get that last step to earn that Eagle rank.”
His dad, Darol Hayse, also helped. Darol was pretty proud of his son and also thankful to the USD 308 school district.
“This is a great project and we’re very thankful to the school district for allowing us to be a part of this,” Darol Hayse said. “He’s done a great job and he’s had a lot of help from his troop and from his friends and family.”
Morgan Elementary School is the benefactor of this project and work. Morgan Principal Bryan Cunningham talked about what this means to student learning.
“It’s an amazing thing, it’s been the topic of the new year,” Cunningham said. “Parents have driven in and said, ‘man, you can see that from the street.’ Walking around classrooms, kids were asking about it and we have new students from Colorado. We can use that as a teaching tool asking, ‘where is Colorado from Kansas, east or west?'” Cunningham says he posed that question for students at recess and encouraged them to learn from the map.
Cunningham says teachers have a game using the map where the first child is asked to find a state, such as California. If they do, then they get to call out another state and the next child has to find that state. It’s a way to have fun and learn some geography.
Alaska and Hawaii are included and are located adjacent to the 48 states so students learn where they actually are in the world. Cunningham says it’s used throughout the year.