Wellesley Girl Scouts Caroline Kane and Ellie Owens have made a difference at Wellesley Middle School by updating the accessible parking space with more modern icons.
“A symbol or a sign might seem like a small thing, but it sends a big message,” Owens says, referring to the more action-oriented wheelchair accessibility symbol that has begun replacing the more stationary one.
The WMS students, working to achieve the coveted Girl Scouts Silver Award, coordinated with town officials to replace outdated parking symbols on 2 spaces so far at the school.
“We chose to do this because even though it might not seem to have a big impact, for people with disabilities the old symbol could make them feel different and disrespected or unwelcome in our school,” the Troop 73505 members say. “The new symbol shows, they are on the go!”
Caroline’s mother Jenny says the project turned out to be more involved than the girls anticipated, as they needed to reach out to lots of people from school officials to those at Town Hall. The facilities team did the actual painting on the ground on Donizetti Street following a repaving project, and new metal signs are on order.