Kindergartener Karter’s first Halloween at school will definitely be one worth remembering. His costume was a work in progress for weeks, the builders all anticipating this day. Karter towers over his classmates in his costume, pressing buttons to make sound effects and flash lights. Heads turn. All eyes are on him in amazement.
Students participating in Magic Wheelchair are building a Halloween costume for Karter, a child in Berkeley living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), constructing the costume to fit around his wheelchair. A small crew has just finished constructing the skeleton of the costume with Bailey and will now move onto foam work as Halloween approaches.
“To have this special memory, and to have this special event, is really something that they treasure,” art teacher Gillian Bailey said.
Juniors Emma Jahn, Miranda Jaramillo, and Alice Sigal are returning participants of Magic Wheelchair.
“We’re the trio under Ms. Bailey,” Jaramillo said.
Bailey said that she first learned about Magic Wheelchair three years ago while she was looking for community service opportunities that extended beyond the art world. She introduced the project to her art students last year after getting off of the organization’s waitlist.
“She was really excited about it, which made everyone else excited about it, too,” sophomore Amelie Tristram said, a student of Bailey’s involved in Magic Wheelchair last year. “If you have the time, doing something good for another person is always worthwhile.”
Founded by Ryan Weimer in Oregon, Magic Wheelchair’s goal is to raise awareness for SMA, according to Magic Wheelchair’s website. According to the Muscular Dystrophy Association website, SMA causes degradation of the muscles and affects the lower body more significantly than the upper body. Many people affected by the disease are left in wheelchairs as a result.
“Kids should have fun childhoods,” Jahn said. “We’re trying to make their childhoods a little more fun.”
There is no cure for SMA, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association website. But there is still hope for the lives of children living with SMA.
“Halloween, dressing up, or any kind of fun should not be impeded by their disability,” Jaramillo said.
The idea for Magic Wheelchair sparked when Weimer’s son Keaton, diagnosed with SMA at an early age, had just gotten his first wheelchair. When Keaton decided that he wanted to be a pirate for Halloween, Weimer realized that he could incorporate his son’s new wheelchair into the costume.
“It’s really fun and really rewarding,” Sigal said.
Last year, students built a pumpkin costume inspired by the film “The Nightmare Before Christmas” for a little girl up near Napa. Bailey said that her favorite part of the project was presenting the final costume to the child.
“She was enjoying Halloween and her wheelchair wasn’t a boundary,” Bailey said. “It didn’t distract from the costume; it was the costume.”
The plan this year is a Buzz Lightyear-themed rocket ship, in which Karter will be dressed as Lightyear and the rocket will be built off of his wheelchair. Karter’s mother suggested the idea, her son being a Toy Story fanatic.
“We’re hoping that it makes him happy,” Jahn said.
Jaramillo said that the project is only in its beginning stages. Bailey has just finished bending and shaping PVC pipe for the skeleton, one of the more toilsome aspects of the building process.
“The costume is a lot more complicated than last year’s,” Jaramillo said.
Jahn, Jaramillo, and Sigal all meet at tutorial on Tuesdays to work on Karter’s costume with Bailey. They encourage all students to come help. Those interested in coding or cosplay would be especially helpful this year.
“Everybody’s welcome,” Bailey said.
Bailey said she hopes that Magic Wheelchair becomes an annual tradition at PHS, to infinity and beyond.
