Published: May 17, 2008 10:49 pm            

Choctaw students bless family with ‘Extreme Home Makeover’

When Vonceille Stith arrives home from work, she is greeted by a flower-filled, debris-free yard and a new side porch.

The Stith family, which includes Choctaw High School senior Heather, were hit hard by December’s ice storm. They lost power for five or six days. Trees and tree branches damaged their roof and filled their yard.

And though Vonceille works in the Integris Health corporate office, her husband has worked just part time after being laid off by Lucent Technologies. Because of their limited financial means, recovering from the ice storm was just a bit more difficult than for some.

Choctaw High School students filled in the gap, raising money as their Gold Rush 2008 schoolwide project. The money went to give the Stith family a new storage building, a side porch, furniture and furnishings for their home and a number of landscaping and home repair materials. The project was known as Extreme Makeover, Choctaw Edition.

A number of students also showed up at the Stith home April 24 to 28 to clean up the yard and plant flowers. Vonceille said she enjoyed the experience of getting to know the students better, many of whom she already knew through her daughter.

“I got to know them better because they were out here working side by side,” she said.

Gina Stepanik, the teacher who oversaw the project, was helping a handful of Choctaw High School seniors with their last little bit of school work late Thursday afternoon.

Getting them through their final projects would clear the way to their graduation at the Cox Center on Monday.

Senior Dallas McCain was there waiting for his close friend Donny Haynes, who was the first to finish his work. Both were present for the entire weekend cleanup. They said that their motivation was in part for the Stith family and in part because Stepanik was asking.

“Gina helps us with school and everything, so anything we can do and help out,” Haynes said.

“It was a good cause,” McCain added. “They (the Stiths) were really appreciative.”

Haynes was joined by his father, also named Donny, and his younger brother, Tyler. The elder Donny owns Haynes Construction LLC. He and his employees donated their time to do some of the more professional work on the home. A friend, Edwin Anglin, also was among students who helped mow, cut and remove trees and put in some hard physical labor.

According to Vonceille, “It was a blessing.”

        

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