MANCELONA — North Central Academy, a K-12 school in Mancelona, held the motto of “action over words, service over self” since being chartered in 2012.
One of this year’s graduating seniors, Brayden Wilkinson, took this to heart when planning his Eagle Scout service project. To seal his legacy at NCA, he planned, funded, and constructed an outdoor classroom for the faculty and staff to enjoy.
NCA, which sits on 28 acres of land, had made an effort to hold classes outside, but without a proper facility, it wasn’t always possible. Wilkinson, originally from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, took inspiration from his old school for this project.
“It really inspired me when moving here, going to a school with K-12 students, and they did not have an outdoor classroom. The school’s principles are to get outside a lot and learn outdoors, and we really didn’t do that a whole lot,” Wilkinson said. “Now that they have an outdoor classroom, they can take classes outside everyday and spend more time not in the classroom.”
However, this process was not as easy as just getting an idea and buying some wood. Wilkinson went through a series of proposals to the Boy Scout council, as well as creating and presenting plans for this project to the principal of NCA, Jill Kettlewell.
“With this project, I was just the one giving the OK, essentially. He took the lead on all of it. He would come to me with the ideas, and I would just help him execute it, but he did most of the work,” Kettlewell said. “He formed his plan and came up with every action step. I am not an easy person to get things passed by, but he did a great job.”
Still, the planning wasn’t necessarily the hardest part. In order to avoid trying to fund the whole project through donations, Wilkinson planned two fundraisers: a chili cook off that happened in September, and K-6 lock-in fundraiser a few months later in November.
“I was really worried about not having enough money. The fundraising events were probably more planning than the effort in the actual project itself. Those events took a lot of preparation and work,” Wilkinson said.
His efforts paid off. In the end, he raised around $2,200, enough to construct the classroom, as well as leave a chunk of funds behind for maintenance. Upon finally reaching that goal, the only thing left to do was build. While he was more than happy to work hands-on, he had the help of other members of Boy Scout Troop 629 of Kalkaska to help him.
“I did most of the planning myself, but when it came down to actually building the classroom, I showed them all how to do it and was alongside them working on it the whole time,” Wilkinson said.
NCA, as a school, is student driven, according to Kettlewell. From clubs, to elective courses, to sports, students are challenged to work to create the things that they want to see. This philosophy is the exact reason why she had few qualms when Brayden first approached her with the project.
“It’s a matter of ownership. If you want it, go get it. It’s not going to be handed to you,” Kettlewell said. “It tied in on who we are. We get things done, and we don’t do excuses. Any roadblocks he came up across, he conquered. It was really cool.”
The outdoor classroom setting has become incredibly popular among students and faculty alike, with Kettlewell now having to set up a new sign-up system to make sure everyone gets a turn. Students have even begun following in Wilkinson’s footsteps, with talk about adding removable desks with leftover funds from the original fundraisers.
“I feel like I wanted to inspire students to really take the motto of the school — action over words, service over self — to heart because they say it every morning during the morning meeting, but a lot of kids don’t really know what it means. When I did the dedication ceremony, I talked to the students directly about how the project was meant to inspire them to put service into plan,” Wilkinson said. “I feel like the principles of NCA really inspired me to be able to make change, even though I was a new student.”
“We’re action over words, service over self, and I think it brings a couple different levels to that. It brings students seeing that you have an idea and it’s possible, don’t limit yourself because it’s big or you don’t initially have the funding,” Kettlewell said. “Overall, Brayden is a shining example of what North Central Academy does: take an idea, make it happen, and it’s all about the action behind your words.”