When Hillcrest High School began the school year online, woodshop teacher Marty Coyle noticed several of his students sitting on their bed, couches or even the floor during classes. To ensure every student has a dedicated workspace for at-home learning, Coyle began making desks with the leftover woodshop materials from the previous school year. 

Coyle, who has been teaching at Hillcrest High School for the past three years, wanted to give back to his community. He shared a photo of his desks on Facebook, saying, “Turns out lots of students do not have desks to work at during E-Learning.....So I figured I might as well build some."

The Facebook post attracted a lot of attention for Coyle—many families and even neighboring school districts started asking him for desks.

"Everyone is going through it. A lot of my friends are teachers and we all have the same thought on our minds... We need kids to feel safe and know we are here for them," Coyle said. "When we initially switched to remote learning last school year, I kept thinking, ‘What are some ways can I make my community better and help the kids out?’"

Coyle has built 12 desks for area students, but with many stores in the area sold out of desks, he is becoming overwhelmed with orders.

"I wish I could build desks for everyone asking, but there are not enough materials to do so, and I am only one person," he said. "I hope this inspires other teachers to want to help their students the same."