DECATUR, Ga. — Back when the coronavirus pandemic first shut schools in March, it created a sudden and widespread need for a fundamental, if perhaps overlooked, learning tool: Desks.
Fast forward a few months, and a new school year is in full swing amid a pandemic that has not fully abated.
Many children are still attending digital classes at home, and they still need a place to sit. For families hardest hit by the economic downturn and struggling to provide a sense of structure for their students, something as simple as a desk could go a long way.
Enter a group of Decatur creatives who have some handy woodworking skills.
The group Decatur Makers is working to build desks to donate to families. One of the group's woodshop teachers, Char Miller-King, told 11Alive's Lauren Wortman they've began fundraising for materials and have made 200 desks so far. Their goal is 500.
"We are just trying to make this thing bigger, and make it spread outside of the South, like can this go up North? Because children all over the world are dealing with the same problem, and there's a lot of people who have the knowledge and tools to do it," Miler-King said. "And in the nonprofit community space, we want to be a part of the solution for our youth."
Miller-King, a mother of school-age twins, said the group was first inspired by a man in California who began making desks for schoolchildren on his own. That man, Mitchell Couch, reportedly made about 40.
With the collective resources and talents at Decatur Makers, they figured they could go even bigger.
"I'm thinking about all the families who either cannot afford a desk, or all the inexpensive desks are sold out - and everybody's not a maker," Miller-King said. "Not everyone has a circular saw, or a drill, or the drive or the motivation to even create a desk. So I'm just glad there's people there that can fill a need."
She pointed out how in her own home, her children first started out working at their dining table, then moved to using TV trays with chairs. None worked quite as well as a plain-old fashioned desk. Miller-King knew her family wasn't the only one is that awkward position.
"It's so important to give children a natural work flow, a good setup, because you're thrusting this new thing on them - 'Okay, from now on you don’t get to see any of your friends or hug your teachers. You have to stare at a computer all day and we expect you to learn.' And then to do it in an uncomfortable position," she described. "It's just unfathomable to think that we're putting our children in this position, but I know their health and safety comes first. I just think it's really important to give them a place that’s their own, a sturdy foundation for them to focus, for them to concentrate, for them to learn to be organized and independent."
The desks themselves are fairly simple - two legs, a table top and a cubby hole built into the top.
For families trying to make digital learning work, though, it can go a long way.
"Most families, they're still working through it. What worked last week may not work for you this week," Miller-King said. "But I will say that it has progressively gotten easier for us, since we know that we're kind of in it for the long haul at this point. So, we're just working through it."