Sarasota, Florida - It may seem like just a wooden desk to some, but not for a group of students from McIntosh Middle School. The desk is now in their home, the desk is a place they can call their own.
"I'm proud of it. Nobody touches it in my house. I use it a lot," says 13-year-old Tessa Tucciarone, a 7th grader.
"It means I get my own space, get to do what I want on my own desk," says Waldine Tresalus, 13, 7th grader.
"It's where I can get my homework done and not turn it in late," says Tyra McCrory, 12, 6th grader.
The desk is bringing the students the kind of success 21-year-old Grier Ferguson hopes for. "I think a lot of kids end up working on the couch, on the floor, kneeling beside their bed. I think it's important to have that place just your own to help you study," says Grier.
Grier, a University of Florida student, says a desk at home helped her with school work growing up. "I felt this is the place I can come to succeed."
When she was a senior at Sarasota High School, Grier decided she would give other students that same chance and started the "Desks for Success" program in 2010.
"For the students who could use that push, by having a desk who by having that desk, would be motivated to become a straight A student," says Grier.
Tessa has been using her desk at home for three months now and has seen her grades go up. Tessa says, "When you are doing your work, you can learn more. When you learn more, you can pass a test and have success."
The not-for profit group has given nearly two dozen students desks at four Sarasota schools so far. The desks are funded through donations, built by volunteers and more are on the way.
Grier says the volunteers and sponsors behind the program care about these students' success. "It means this group of people care deeply about them doing their best," says Grier.
Tessa credits Grier for coming up with the Desks for Success program. "She's making a difference she's helping by improving student's education," says Tessa.
The program is expanding as donations go up. Grier estimates Desks for Success will give away a couple dozen desks to students this spring.
Isabel Mascarenas