Photo by Eric Keith / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

Pierce Jarrett and Lexi Walker donned Christmas apparel to help their Mid-Buchannan classmates give a presentation about their secret santa program at emPowerU Monday afternoon.

Students from Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri were back Monday at emPowerU to showcase their projects, share ideas and participate in workshops.

Students at Wathena Middle School decided they wanted to have a positive impact on their community.

Fifty students are involved in the project to clean up the community, said Conner Schultz, 14.

The students and the school obtained a $14,000 grant from the Heartland Foundation and focused on six cleanup days, contracted for Dumpster rentals, printed fliers and arranged to help senior citizens who asked for assistance.

Emily Elder, 14, said she was surprised to find out how many senior citizens lived in Wathena.

“And we realized that as individuals we can make people happy by doing something as simple as cleaning up a yard,” said Caelan Blair, 12.

The Wathena students will conduct their last two cleanups for this school year on May 16 and June 6.

St. Joseph’s Rainbow students have taken on a difficult project.

“We’re breaking it down into smaller pieces but our goal is to provide the homeless with access to affordable health care,” said Ashley Howery, 12.

The students arranged to go to Juda House and the Open Door Food Kitchen to interview people.

These people feel trapped, held against their will and think people are baby-sitting them, said Emmry Zahnd, 12.

“It’s frustrating because of the lack of trust,” Miss Zahnd said.

The students are writing a grant to obtain a mobile medical vehicle that would visit sites where homeless individuals live.

Ten students at Lafayette High School are focusing on hiking trails at Krug Park. They want to add wood chips on muddy trails, install signs that would tell the mileage an individual walked and identify trees along the trails.

“We want to make it a better place,” said Raymond Bailey, 16.

Students also came from Maryville Middle School, Mid-Buchanan Middle School, Nodaway-Holt, Worth County R-III, Elwood, Noyes Elementary, Coleman Elementary and the Bartlett Center.

The emPowerU facility is located at 518 S. Sixth St.

Marshall White can be reached

at marshall@npgco.com.