Westerly High School students build bus stop to shelter boy who uses wheelchair

(WJAR) — Getting on the bus in the morning is a lot more enjoyable for a Westerly boy who uses a wheelchair to get around thanks to the kindness of the construction class at Westerly High School.

Every morning, Monday through Friday, 5-year-old Ryder Kilam heads outside to wait for the bus to pick him up to take him to Dunn's Corners Elementary School.

Ryder can’t walk.

Every morning his parents push him outside to the end of their driveway.

“With Ryder being in a wheelchair, unfortunately it’s about 75 feet from our house to the bus,” said Ryder’s Dad, Tim Kilam. “He’s not the typical child that can run out when the bus comes.”

Initially, the Kilam family setup a homemade area at the end of their driveway to keep Ryder sheltered while waiting for the bus.

“We ended up having an old patio umbrella standing out here to keep him dry but with the wind blowing and stuff it just didn’t work,” said Kilam. “So we decided to reach out to the community, we actually put a post on Facebook looking for friends that maybe new somebody that had one that they were no longer using.”

The request reached the Construction Technology class at Westerly High School.

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Dan McKena has been teaching the class for 27 years.

“I think my first email was, absolutely we’re in,” said McKena. “We’ve done other projects before. I think it’s very important for my students to learn not only the aspects of construction but of being involved in the community dealing with people outside of the school environment.”

The class volunteered to use their skills to build a bus hut for Ryder.

For a few weeks, three classes worked together on the project, 17-year-old senior Mason Heald decided to make it his senior project.

“It was a learning stretch for me. I've never really done anything like that,” said Heald. “I watched videos on how studs make things hollow. I didn't really know too much about what I was doing.”

Heald, under the guidance of McKena, with the help of the classes went to work.

McKena said knowing where the project would wind up, kept the students motivated.

“They all worked together for a common goal and they really enjoyed knowing the end result and knowing where it’s going,” he said. “On days when it might've been like, ‘I don’t feel like working’ or whatever it may be, they just come in eager, ready to get going and get to work.”

“It definitely made it extra special. I was really happy to help my community of sorts and it was pretty cool to do something like that because it’s not just a shed I’m helping out somebody in need and it’s just nice,” said Heald. “We all worked pretty closely together, and all communicated pretty well.”

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Home Depot donated about $300 worth of wood.

The Kilam family purchased the rest.

The class, which includes one of Ryder’s older brothers, made sure to make the bus hut ADA accessible so Ryder and his dad or nurses could fit in it comfortably.

“The reason we put a rush on it was we knew snow would fly and we didn’t want Ryder sitting outside under his umbrella throughout the winter,” said McKena.

“I think they did a great job with everything. To come up with a Final product like that I was proud of them.”

Former construction student and Westerly High School graduate, Ryan Perrin volunteered to bring the bus hut over to the Kilam’s house.

It was installed and he’s been using it ever since.

“He loves it, he actually after school makes us stay out here and hang out now it’s his new fort so he gets home,” said Kilam. “The community, they’re incredible, they've come forward a couple of times for Ryder. It’s unreal how everyone comes together to make things work for everybody.”

Ryder has not yet met the students who built him his new bus stop but the family said they’re hoping he will have the opportunity to.

“The family sent me a photo of Ryder in the bus stop and his grin, his smile, I think my response to that email was just, ‘priceless.’ Said McKena. “That one photo that the family sent me made it all worth it and I shared it with the students that were involved in the construction.”

“Ryder is a special little boy that has a big challenge ahead of him for the rest of his life so all these little things really help,” said Kilam. “ I just want to thank them very much for this. It's a great thing they did for Ryder and it’ll be here for years to come.”