CHOCOWINITY — It’s not every day that a student takes the initiative to head up a community service project. But that’s exactly what one Southside High School student did.

Senior John Bryant loved playing basketball at the Chocowinity Recreation Center, and he wanted others to enjoy the court there, too. Unfortunately, the ball goals had seen better days.

Bryant approached welding teacher Stanley Dixon about a potential refurbishing project, and proceeded to gain permission from the recreation center and Chocowinity Middle School to repair two of the four goals.

Dixon said, over the course of a week, he and his students redesigned the basketball goals to make them sturdier. All of the materials used in the project were donated by A.R. Chesson Construction Co.

“I was shocked that a student was willing to take the initiative to just, ‘let’s make this happen,’” Dixon recalled. “If he’s willing to … take the initiative to get it started, we’ve got to make it happen.”

Bryant said the next step was enlisting the help of his friends to reinstall the goals last Saturday. Middle and elementary school children also came out to play a game of basketball with the new goals.

“It gives kids something to do, and not only that, I was doing something to help the community out,” Bryant said about the inspiration to complete the project. “It keeps kids out of trouble. It keeps them out on the right track. It keeps everything positive.”

For everyone involved, looking at the finished product is a rewarding experience, and Bryant said he hopes younger students will now enjoy the court as much as he did. Bryant is set to graduate this year and plans to join the United States Navy.

“It was also great for John to just learn how to make things happen, how to just move forward with a project. That was very rewarding to me to just kind of give him a little bit of guidance but let him do it,” Dixon said. “I was thrilled to be a part of it.”