St. Thomas Academy Teacher Pays It Forward in LEGOs

Packed with 670 students and faculty to spare, it’s a crowded room. The air is tense, but exciting. The crowd noise quiets as they start reading the names out loud. Fourteen will be chosen.

“Part of me has always said, ‘I hope they won’t call my name,’ but another part of me has said, ‘I sure hope they call me,’” said Mark Westlake, a physics instructor at St. Thomas Academy.

And then, he hears his name. A group of students chuckled nearby and Westlake stood, ready to accept his fate and take on the challenge.

As part of the annual Catholic Schools Week, St. Thomas Academy organizes a “Pay it Forward” project for students and faculty. At an all-school gathering held at the end of November, 14 lucky individuals (two from each grade, plus two faculty) were randomly chosen to receive $100 and the mission to pay it forward—meaning pass on the goodwill to others. The chosen ones have to use the money toward some charitable cause in a way that makes the money work beyond its value.

In years past, the money has gone to purchasing soda and snacks for dances, and the cover charge for guests was donated to charities. Students have held bake sales (using the $100 for groceries) and the income from that has been offered to local charities. Routinely, money-holders donate money to Kiva to finance microloans in developing countries.

At another all-school gathering that will be held during Lent, the students and faculty will stand before their peers and tell the story of just where their money went.

One student has collected cell phones at Fischerville Coffee House to donate to deployed troops. Another student is collecting children’s books at the school’s front office to donate to West Seventh Community Center.

The story of Westlake’s project began years ago, when he was just a child.

“I loved them, I mean, who didn’t love LEGOs,” said Westlake.

Immediately after having his name drawn, Westlake shared his plan with students in his second period class. It’s an idea he said he’s been mulling over for a few years. Over the fall and winter, he’s asked students, staff, parents and area residents to donate old LEGOs: the long-forgotten kits from childhood, the slightly grimy pieces hidden between couch cushions and the lose pieces separated from their set. Once the pieces are gathered, he plans to create new sets of them, maybe not with all the correct colors or the fanciest results, but good, solid kits, complete with instructions. The kits will then be donated to less-advantaged kids.

Four students in that second-period class last fall immediately enlisted as his accomplices.

“They’re really some of my smartest students,” Westlake said, “If you surround yourself with smart people, it makes less work for me.”

The students have taken care of advertising the project, sorting the pieces as they are collected and will generally see the project through to delivery.

“It was very fun to hop on that bandwagon with him,” said junior Simon Lemaire.

So far, the group has collected enough LEGOs to create around 100 kits, said Westlake. Their deadline for receiving donations is Feb. 15.

After all the pieces are collected, the group is planning a major day of reckoning. With an anticipated posse of around 50 students, faculty and Westlake’s own children as volunteers, they’ll unpack and sort their collection, based on shape and size. From there, they’ll gather the pieces to create specific sets, using both their imagination and directions posted online. “The Great Sort and Build,” to create the kits is scheduled for March 25-26. The $100 from the school will be used to purchase additional pieces needed to complete the sets.

The completed LEGO sets will be given to area children this upcoming Christmas who aren’t likely to have access to them otherwise, said Westlake.  

If you’ve got any LEGOs to spare, you can drop them of at the front office at St. Thomas before Feb. 15.