BURIEN, Wash. — High school students in Burien are learning first-hand that change is possible. The teens are part of an eight-week program turning guns into garden tools.
The program is organized by the nonprofit group Choose 180. The group's mission is to guide youth down a more positive path.
"Sometimes we need help and a vision and some tools in order to transform," volunteer Brian Hewitt said.
Hewitt is a blacksmith for Raw Tools, a nonprofit group that collects guns to be transformed into garden tools. All the metals in their shop are the byproduct of pistols and rifles surrendered for this very purpose.
"Taking something that you think is permanent and can't be bent, and then heating it up — and they can actually see it change its shape with each blow — it's empowering," Hewitt said.
The metal slowly changes shape through heat and hammers.
"I feel like it's inspiring and good, and we can really make a change, you know?" said Guled Ahmed, a student entering 11th grade.
The project resonates with both students and staff.
"I'm making it in honor of a former student of mine who took his own life with a pistol," said Choose 180 staff member Jon Lari.
"You're more than the worst thing you've done, even if you've been causing harm, you don't have to keep causing harm. We can always make something better out of whatever is in front of us," Lari said.
The goal is for the students to know that change is always possible – no matter how hard it may seem.