Colorful vinyl banners now hang from a railroad crossing on Martin Luther King Boulevard thanks to students from Brown Academy, Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy, and UTC. Student mentors from the UTC P.A.W.S. (Postsecondary Awareness With Success) program assisted the fourth and fifth grade students in creating banners to hang on the sides of the railroad overpass.
Partnering with Mark Making, a local non-profit organization, student mentors from UTC worked with the students for several weeks to create the banners inscribed with words like “peace,” “give,” “act,” and “build.”
“We think the project went well. The kids really enjoyed it. I think anytime a child can create a sense of community is a good thing. It’s important to include them in that process,” Sandy Cole, Director of the UTC Center for Community Career Education, said.
Now in its fourth year, P.A.W.S. started as an elementary-age college awareness program. UTC students provide mentoring services, such as tutoring and guidance, to local elementary students. This year, P.A.W.S. was expanded to four new elementary schools.
