In late December, Swift Middle School art teacher Melissa Tucker went to The Daily Grind in Quarryville. After Tucker placed a large to-go order, the staff notified her that they had run out of drink carriers. Due to the pandemic, many people were ordering takeout, so there was a high demand for drink carriers. A staff member provided Tucker with a carrier that was not meant for beverages, but it did the trick. Soon after, Tucker decided to create a service project for her students that would benefit The Daily Grind.

"We saw a need and wanted to do something about it," said Tucker. "I wanted to give the kids something different to do that's a connection to outside of the building because everything we've been doing has been so secluded."

Tucker saw this project as the perfect opportunity to collaborate with other classes at Swift Middle School. Also involved with the project are Kevin Childs, Swift and Smith Middle School STEM teacher, and Derrick Kreider, Swift Middle School technology education teacher.

Childs built the project into his curriculum and had the students in his STEM class design drink carriers. From the designs that were submitted, Childs, Kreider, Tucker, and Kreider's student teacher Vivian Feliciani chose two.

Tucker's art class sketched designs for a stamp that would go on each drink carrier, and seventh-grader Jasmine Gutierrez created the winning design. The art class will make a digital version of Jasmine's sketch for Laser Works in Quarryville. Laser Works will create and donate a rubber stamp using the design.

Kreider's technology education students manufacture the product. They're using repurposed cardboard to create anywhere from 10 to 200 drink carriers for The Daily Grind. Each student is involved in every step of the process. "When I had stations in the past, I learned that students became very bored doing the same things repeatedly, so now I like to empower them to control their own product," stated Kreider.

"I'm most excited for the kids to see that these skills are something that can be used out in the world in a real way," noted Tucker. "I'm excited for them to see a practical application of something they designed and created."

"I'm excited to have the students go to The Daily Grind with their families and see what they made being used out in the real world," added Kreider.

Classes such as STEM, art, technology education, and music are referred to as related arts at Swift Middle School. After the completion of this project, Kreider said he hopes all the related arts classes continue to collaborate and work together to do projects like this in the future.