“Do you know it?” his mother asked, bouncing him in  her arms. “Do you know you’re getting a car today?”

Two-year old Avery Pozarek smiled a lose, happy grin.

He didn’t know it yet, but the car he would get was a small black mini-motor, the kind children ride up and down the sidewalk. This one was a little different. It had buttons, four on the dashboard instead of a wheel, along with a headrest, a padded seat and several harnesses. These modifications were made by four seniors: Nolan Blankenau, Eric Higgins, Owen Li and Tony Lu, because Pozarek has Periventricular Leukomalacia, a brain injury which delays cognitive development and impairs motor skills. As a result of the condition, Pozarek cannot walk.

“We had to modify quite a bit of it,” Owen said. “The child can’t control his arms very well. He doesn’t have much strength – same with his feet. So the steering wheel and the accelerator pedal had to be taken out and instead we just installed these buttons to push down so he can actually control the car. To support his body he needs a whole system of harnesses; straps on his ankles, his shoulders, chest, waist and then a head rest because his neck doesn’t support his head very well either.”

The seniors arrived with the car, and Pozarek’s parents lowered him into it. Pozarek rode for about thirty minutes, his parents pushing the car and coaxing him along, helping him press the four buttons to move up and down the living room carpet.

Pozarek was crying. It was too new, his mother, Lindsay Pozarek, said, with too many strange faces. It might take time -maybe a week- for him to adjust. But his parents were grateful for the addition.

“We were so excited, because, you know, [Pozarek] wouldn’t be able to experience having a car like that,” Lindsay said. “He needs the support and he can’t use a steering wheel like another kid would get to do. So we were very excited, so happy, and we feel blessed- even that this was available, because we had no idea it existed.”

The seniors built the car over over the course of about two months, after Higgins’ mother heard of GoBabyGo!, an organization that researches the effects of giving children with disabilities small cars. According to its website, GoBabyGo! is “committed to a single, urgent vision: all people exploring their world via independent mobility.”

“They want [the cars] to be fun; they want them to be something other kids will envy,” Susie Peterson Higgins said.  

Susie matched the students with Pozarek through a co-worker at Infant Toddler Services. Then they ordered a pre-made mini-motor online.

“Exactly what changes needed to be made depended on the person we built it for,” Owen said. “We knew we were going to modify a car but nothing besides that.”

The boys worked in the Higgins’ basement for a few hours most days in the summer and more sporadically during the school year.

“I had a summer job,” Blankenau said. “So we would meet in the mornings and work around that.”

Overall the project was challenging, with several major hiccups and unexpected adjustments, but the high schoolers say the experience honed their robotics skills and allowed them to benefit Pozarek.

“It was gratifying,” Owen said. “It helped us and it helped the child.”