SCRANTON — The smiles spoke volumes Sunday afternoon inside the Byron Center at the University of Scranton.
The tears did, too.
Shirley Huffman of Springville got emotional watching her toddler, Trevor, 1 1/2, get strapped in his customized tractor.
Trevor’s father, Devin Cooke, raises beef cows at Valley View Farm in Troy, Huffman said.
“(Trevor) can’t walk and I’ve been working so hard, and his therapist has been working so hard, to get him to walk,” she said. “We’re so, so close, but we’re kind of stagnant. This is really going to help in getting him to be more mobile and getting around the farm.”
Trevor, 1 1/2 years old of Springville, rides around a track inside the University of Scranton’s Byron Center Sunday afternoon on a customized tractor created by students through the Go Baby Go program. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
Haley, 4, of Equinunk, drives a customized vehicle around a track inside the University of Scranton’s Byron Center Sunday afternoon during the Go Baby Go event. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
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Trevor, 1 1/2 years old of Springville, rides around a track inside the University of Scranton’s Byron Center Sunday afternoon on a customized tractor created by students through the Go Baby Go program. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
Huffman praised Go Baby Go — an international program geared toward improving mobility — for highlighting children like her son, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome.
“It’s kind of neat,” she said. “It kind of puts a spotlight on him, and now he has mobility.”
Huffman also recognized the University of Scranton students who construct the cars.
“It’s definitely an amazing thing,” she said. “These guys are really going above and beyond.”
Funded through a grant from the Edward R. Leahy Jr. Endowment, for a third consecutive year, a group of students led by Stephanie DeNaples, faculty specialist in the Department of Occupational Therapy, designed vehicles to get kids moving.
“It’s a wonderful program,” Edward Leahy said. “Look at all the people they got involved … we never had this many students involved.”
Leahy didn’t hesitate to support the program when approached by DeNaples several years ago.
“I just said I’m in, immediately,” he said. “It’s an easy one because it’s such a good thing for kids with disabilities. They get to understand the spatial dimensions, they get to understand they can do things, and they have fun, that’s the key. And it’s good for the students, too.”
This year, more than 70 students across 11 disciplines worked together to modify 10 toy cars for children with disabilities.
“They chopped, soldered, glued, sanded and created these vehicles with one goal in mind: to see the sparkle in the eyes of these wonderful children as they take the wheel for the first time,” DeNaples said. “This isn’t something they have to do, it’s something they choose to do. They give up their free time, in between busy class schedules, sports, and other obligations, to work on something that directly impacts a child’s life.”
Anthony Kyttle of Olyphant, expressed sincere appreciation for the students’ efforts to outfit his 18-month-old daughter, Kylee, with a new toy car.
“There is no word for it … it’s almost like they’re family,” he said.
Kyttle feels the new vehicle will allow Kylee — who was diagnosed with Down syndrome — a better chance to interact outside with her older sister, Madisyn, 10.
“It’s just amazing,” he said. “It just makes them bond even more.”
Madisyn Kyttle, 10, flashed a bright smile when asked about being able to spend more time outside with her baby sister.
“It’s very nice,” she said. “They did a good job.”