BY JESSICA STEELEY
Clarkston News Staff Writer

Sixth grade science classes at Sashabaw Middle School (SMS) stepped up to fight hunger this year with their Academic Service Learning Stepping Stone project.
“Students designed their own stepping stone using Earth materials. They created a brochure to accompany their stepping stone,” said sixth grade science teacher Kristen Vigier.
The brochure contained information on academic service learning, cement and earth materials and Blessings in a Backpack, the charity benefited by the project. Whoever buys a stone will get a brochure as well.
“It was a different way to learn about helping people,” sixth grader Alexandra Smock said.
Students mixed concrete to make stepping stones and decorated them, sixth grader Bedford Muzzy said.
“There are a lot of kids that are hungry over the weekend and that’s why we have Blessings in a Backpack,” Muzzy said. The stones are available for purchase to students and community members for $5 each to raise funds for Blessings in a Backpack Clarkston and the Jeffrey Burkett Memorial Bench.
“In previous years 100 percent of the project benefited Blessings in a Backpack Clarkston but this year we asked for 25 percent of the donations to be used to purchase a memorial bench for a sixth-grade student we lost this year to a terrible accident, Jeffrey Burkett,” Vigier said.
She said 579 sixth graders designed and created a stepping stone and anyone can purchase the stones. Some students reserved their own stone to buy, but others are on display and up for sale in the SMS lobby.
“We had a lot of freedom in picking out our design,” sixth grader Allison Gibeau said. “It was cool that we were able to design our project.”