09/04/2026
Thoughtfulness in action!
Every morning, 5-year-old Ryder Killam waited for his school bus in a wheelchair even if the weather was cold, raining, or snowing. Then a group of high school students decided to do something about it.
Ryder lived in Westerly, Rhode Island, and every morning he waited for the bus about 75 feet from his front door. Because he uses a wheelchair, he couldn't simply run to the bus if he was late. He could end up waiting outside for as long as 15 minutes.
His family had tried to keep him protected from the New England weather with an old patio umbrella. But when the wind picked up, the umbrella wasn't much help.
So Ryder's family reached out to their community to see if anyone had an old bus shelter they could use. Instead, they got something much better.
A local guidance counselor suggested they contact Dan McKena, a construction technology teacher at Westerly High School. When Ryder's father, Tim, emailed McKena, the teacher happened to be sitting beside senior Mason Heald, who was trying to come up with an idea for his final high school project.
McKena looked at him and said, “You're designing a bus stop.”
Mason took on the challenge, and soon 14 other students from three of McKena's classes joined him. For weeks, the students worked together to build a custom shelter specifically for Ryder.
They designed it with a ramp that allowed Ryder to roll his wheelchair straight inside, windows low enough for him to see when his school bus was arriving, a light inside and enough room for an adult to sit beside him.
Home Depot donated about $300 worth of wood, while Ryder's family covered another $600 in materials. The students provided something even more valuable: their time and hard work.
Six weeks later, the shelter was finished and delivered to the Killam family's home.
Ryder's reaction?
“Holy cow!”
He loved it so much that the shelter quickly became more than just a place to wait for the bus. It became his little fort—a place where he could hang out and play.
His father said Ryder uses it every morning before school, while his nurses use it when they wait for him to come home.
After the family sent McKena a photo of Ryder sitting inside his new shelter with a huge grin on his face, the teacher replied with just one word: “Priceless.”
And perhaps the sweetest part was how Mason viewed the entire project. When asked about the shelter, the high school senior shrugged it off. “It's nothing,” he said. “Just a shed. I'm helping out somebody.”
But it wasn't just a shed. It was a group of teenagers using what they were learning to make one little boy's mornings safer, warmer and a whole lot happier.
And for Ryder, that kindness meant everything. 💛
