The Observation Deck

This week, Chucked Wood is launching a Kickstarter.com Project; the Observation Deck. It is an installation project that will reside at General Greene Elementary and afford the students an outdoor classroom as well as several "observation & refection" areas. The bench is the same style as the "Press-on Bench" but with the addition of a weather-proof box (aka: mailbox) mounted on the side. This is where the project gets special to me...

I love the stories that people have to share. We all have them, they make us, "us". My favorite part about Thanksgiving is the telling (and often, retelling) of the stories. I enjoy stand-up & improv comedy so much because I can relate to those stories of the dentist, airports, being married, having kids, etc. What keeps me coming back are the different takes each of us has on these subjects; how we view our lives.

So, when the opportunity arose to work with Mr. Howard, a student teacher at Gen Greene, I didn't wait long to say, "yes". He was working on an Environmental Education project and envisioned an outdoor classroom at the school made up of Press-on Benches. We decided to take it one step further and and a journaling, recording, reflection element to the bench that could be stored there as well. We came up with this:

And lastly, built a prototype to showcase on Kickstarter:

So now, we launch a $1000 fund raising effort to make this all a reality. This is all very new and very exciting... wish us luck! The next step is the potential for these to appear in parks & neighborhoods. A place where someone can simply sit, write, reflect, and leave a story behind.

Cheers!