On Wednesday, 16 technology education students from Rockvale Middle School went on a field trip.

However, this was no ordinary field trip. 

The students have been participating in service-learning projects at school where they prepared sandwiches for the homeless, put together personal hygiene kits for the residents at the shelter, and made fliers for upcoming events.

The students traveled to the Salvation Army Center of Hope homeless shelter in Murfreesboro to continue the service-learning projects.

Recently the center had to build a new walk-in cooler and freezer to support the 34 homeless clients who stay there on any given night. The old freezer was located outside the building and was destroyed due to weather-related conditions. The new larger cooler and freezer have direct access from the kitchen and replaced several smaller coolers and freezers.

The students assembled seven large shelving units, and then sorted and organized donated food into large plastic bins and placed them on the shelving inside the cooler and freezer units. Additionally, the students cleaned one of the family rooms, folded sheets, and wrapped pastries and bread.

Prior to beginning to work, the students got a grand tour of the facility by Lt. Lorraina Crawford, who runs the center with her husband, Lt. Joseph Crawford.

They are both ordained ministers in the Salvation Army Church and hold services every Sunday and Bible study during the week. The Center of Hope is located at 1137 W. Main St., on the corner of West Main and Highway 99, just 11 miles from Rockvale Middle.

The students are part of the eighth-grade technology education class, which focuses on improving technology skills and learning basic engineering concepts. The class incorporates hands-on, cooperative and problem-based learning.

The students were very enthusiastic about the project and worked very hard, according to school officials. Following the project, each team of students completed a refection about what they did, and each student completed a self and peer evaluation.

Responses included:

“It was very cold in [the freezer] but it was still fun because we were all working together. And we were helping the Salvation Army a lot. They have a lot of work that they have to do there! I’m glad that we were able to help them.”

“Community service can be fun.”

“It was a great experience.”

A special thank you goes out to Johnson Transportation Service of Eagleville for donating the bus transportation and Papa John’s Pizza on Old Fort Parkway for providing lunch.