BRIDGEPORT – Students at Bridgeport High School did their part in helping convince officials to move up the construction schedule for the Blaine Hill Bridge, and a committee of citizens thanked them with a sweet treat Feb. 7.
The bridge has been restricted since July and closed as of August due to structural issues, to the hardship of many locals. The Blaine Bridge Committee held a public meeting Jan. 24 at the East Central Educational Service Center Learning Center in Wolfhurst. Attendants included Ohio State Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville, and representatives from the offices of U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio and U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio.
A centerpiece of that meeting was a presentation from students in Jim Davenport’s digital design class. Following an Ohio Department of Transportation announcement at the end of January that the start date has been moved from 2027 to 2025, members of the Blaine Bridge Committee stopped in the high school’s media center with coffee and doughnuts for the class.
Committee member Polly Bianconi said the students made an important contribution.
“The presentation was very, very impressive. They did a phenomenal job with it,” she said. “We just wanted to give a thanks and a shout-out to the kids and the teachers and staff, and to (Superintendent Brent) Ripley also for helping us achieve our goal.”
She said the closure has caused difficulties for all in the area, as well as raising safety concerns should a wreck or a hazardous material spill occur on Interstate 70. Committee member and retired Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Don Britton agreed, adding some local businesses have suffered losses of more than 40%.
“It’s strangling the community, literally, from Blaine to Lansing to Bridgeport,” Bianconi said.
Britton said the students also wrote letters to their representatives and three were read at the meeting.
“They did a great job. It’s a lesson in civic duty and responsibility. They got to see firsthand how the process works when citizens get involved,” Britton said.
Sophomore Kaleb Lyons said the students also made individual presentations and researched arguments in favor of moving up the construction schedule. He said Davenport’s class equipped him with valuable skills.
“Mr. Davenport’s a really good teacher,” he said. Lyons added his research included comparing different bridges and how long it had taken to build them. He said Davenport taught him how to find reliable information.
“I had to go deep into the concept I was trying to find,” he said.
Lyons said the closure has made life difficult for many who use the bridge to go to school or work.
“I think it made a big difference because it’s a two-year difference now,” he said. “Two years is way better.”
Senior Jasmine Gonzalez also researched information used in the final presentation. She credited Davenport and the educational opportunities at Bridgeport High.
“He helped me so much,” she said.
“It’s really nice to sit here and know that I’m a high school student and I’ve gone to Bridgeport my entire life, I’m not high up in the world, but it’s great to know that my voice and all the voices amongst me were heard about this issue that affects all of us. I don’t work up in St. Clairsville but my best friend does. I know people who work up in St. Clairsville and that route was taken away from them and I know that’s been very difficult on them. Just knowing that if we have an issue, we can talk about it and people will listen to us is really nice.”
Senior Xander Stauffer is one of Davenport’s advanced interactive media students and took the lead in producing the presentation used at the public meeting. He incorporated information supplied by the committee and others and crafted a PowerPoint presentation that would complement the speech to make the most impact.
“I tried to make it as immersive as I could,” he said. “I used a lot of my experience to help with this product. It was fun.
“The most important thing they stressed in the presentation, and they have at least five examples, was bigger bridges that are important to certain areas were larger projects that were done in way less time,” he said.
“We’re a smaller area, this bridge isn’t that big, so it shouldn’t take that long to do and it’s important to us,” he said. “We need this bridge to survive in the area. It really helps the community thrive, so without it, it’s rough. I think that helped motived them to push the working day forward.”
He thanked the committee, adding while he has had experience working on projects for clients outside of the school, such as videos promoting fire departments, he has seen the most impact in his community following this presentation.
“I’ve heard my parents talk about it. I’ve heard people I didn’t even know talk about it. It’s just cool to see the impact.”
Ripley commended Davenport and ELA teacher Felicia Porter for providing the students with a real-life situation as their project.
“We are very thankful that both of them work at Bridgeport. To our many students who helped, well done! This is what life is all about. Creating long lasting and positive change for the betterment of many lives,” he said. “I also must tip my hat to everyone on the Blaine Bridge Committee for their persistence in pushing forward to create a change in the schedule completion. They did such a great job presenting our case as a community. It’s just another example of the good that can be done when you have a great team of individuals promoting Bridgeport.”
