K-12: Addison Vermont School High School Furniture to El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Zambia

Recording inventory. IRN documents every piece sent to our nonprofit partners. Mt. Abraham Union High School

Situation:  In two phases scheduled for February and April vacations, the Mount Abraham Union High School in Bristol, VT, is replacing nearly all its student furnishings.  Phase 1 encompassed student desks and seating, classroom tables, and selected other items.

Quantity and Composition:  A total of 1,347 pieces of which more than 90% were student desks, seating, and activity tables.

Setting:  Rural town in northwestern Vermont, population 3,900, 30 miles south of Burlington VT.

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Overview

Student desks staged to be loaded and shipped to Nicaragua from Mount Abraham Union High School

The Mount Abraham Union High School in northwestern Vermont is replacing nearly 100% of its furnishings.  The replacement has been scheduled in two phases.  Phase 1 over winter break replaced primarily student desks, seating, and activity tables.  Phase 2 over spring break replaces the remaining student furnishings plus teachers desks, bookshelves, and administrative furniture.

The school district reached IRN to provide a better option than landfilling for the furniture being replaced.

Composition (Phase 1)

Implementation

Filling a trailer at Mount Abraham Union High School.

Scheduling and coordination were the biggest concerns on this project.  The entire school had to be emptied, floors cleaned, and new furniture assembled and installed, all within the nine-day window of February vacation.

Starting early Saturday morning and working through Sunday, Booska Worldwide Moving (IRN’s frequent service provider in Vermont) removed furnishings from the classrooms and staged them to be taken out through the school’s main entrance.  Meanwhile, a separate crew of installers used the cafeteria as their receiving area and workroom to assemble and prep the new furnishings.  With separate access points and work areas, the two crews stayed out of each other’s way – the old furniture flowed out and the new flowed in without conflict.

Another complication was a basketball tournament at the school during the break.  Booska and IRN staff doubled as traffic cops, particularly to assure that students and spectators were kept safely away from areas where crews were working and trailers were being loaded.

Destinations

The inventory from Phase 1 filled four overseas shipping containers.  World Vision, a longtime IRN charitable partner, was the recipient, sending two trailers to community development projects in Zambia, one trailer to support flood reconstruction efforts in Nicaragua, and one trailer to El Salvador.

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