Vaughn Wilson has brought his passion for the Titanic to Eugene Field.

 

His love for the Titanic started around age four. 

 

"I think he saw something about it on the National Geographic Channel," said Vaughn's mom Lindsey Wilson. 

 

That love for the Titanic has only grown over the years. Vaughn's house is filled with Titanic memorabilia and every year Vaughn and his family go to the Titanic Museum in Las Vegas. 

 

The reason he's in love with the Titanic is pretty remarkable, especially for a seven-year-old. 

 

"He's fascinated about the engineering of it and how it was able to split and sink. He's always talking about 'What could I have done differently to prevent that from happening,'" said Lindsey. 

 

Vaughn had an idea and he wasn't going to give up until it became a reality. He wanted to start a Titanic Club at Eugene Field. After pitching the idea to his principal Ms. Alongi, he got the go-ahead to see if there would be enough interest in such a club.

 

Vaugh with the help of his mom who works at Eugene Field, made flyers and passed around a sign-up sheet to see if students would be interested in a Titanic Club.

 

"I didn't know if there would be any interest since it's such a specific club," said Lindsey.

 

Turns out there was. 20 students sign up saying they would be interested in joining a club like that. From there Vaughn was able to find a club advisor, Mrs. Arkebauer. It officially was a club!

 

Twice a month about 10-15 students in grades Kindergarten through 6th grade me. Each student was given a real passenger that was on the Titanic to study up on. They've learned about the history of the ship and also completed STEM activities related to how the disaster could have been prevented.

 

Lindsey bought the club a 90,000-piece Lego Titanic kit. It's been all hands on deck to get the piece finished by the end of the school year, which the club just finished putting together. Students were also given different roles. It only seemed fitting that the captain role went to Vaughn.

 

Mrs. Arkebauer will tell you the most impressive thing about this story is the leadership Vaughn has shown, "Being a LEADER IN ME school, the main purpose of this program is to encourage students to become leaders of themselves and then others, which Vaughn has done a remarkable job of."

 

While Vaughn's mom isn't sure what the future holds for the Titanic Club she hopes Vaughn's actions will inspire not just students but adults to never give up.

 

"If a first grader can do all this, you can do anything you set your mind to. You just have to have perseverance," said Lindsey.