BILLINGS — A senior at Billings Senior High School spent nearly a year and a half working to get a wheelchair-accessible van so his classmates with disabilities could join school outings.
Leland Doney Graham noticed that students in special education were being left behind when other classes went on field trips and outings — simply because the school lacked a vehicle that could accommodate wheelchairs.
Watch Leland Doney Graham talk about his motivation for the van:
"I've helped out in classes, and I've gotten to know some of the kids," Graham said Wednesday.
That familiarity made what he observed harder to ignore.
"I've realized that some of them are kind of bored, sitting here and waiting," Graham said.
Graham said the disparity between what wheelchair-bound students could access compared to their peers motivated him to act.
"Other classes go out to go do stuff. Like some of them go grocery shopping and go places. But we have to leave the wheelchair kids here because we didn't have anything that could seat them and that's where the whole idea came to me and I started doing that," Graham said.
He began researching options and eventually found a van available in Salt Lake City.
"I looked into different vans and I found one that was from Salt Lake, Utah," Graham said.
The price tag was steep, but donations made it possible. Not everyone believed he could pull it off.
"Some of them thought it was iffy if I could get it, but I told him I got a van, it's on the way," Graham said.
Teacher Michael Sullivan was one of the staff members involved in the project and said Graham's commitment never wavered.
"He stuck with it the whole way, kept trying to find stuff. He came up to me every day with a new proposal for a van," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said Graham's dedication came from a genuine place.
"I think it's honestly just his love for working with these kids and kids that are not necessarily as fortunate, things we take for granted every day," Sullivan said.
Graham said the van will benefit about a dozen students at Billings Senior High long after he graduates. He noted that two other Billings high schools already had accessible vans — and he wanted to close that gap.
"I found out West and Skyview have one. But we didn't. So I wanted to kinda put us with the rest," Graham said.
Sullivan said the impact will be deeply personal for at least one student.
"I'm thinking of one young lady in particular. I know she's extremely excited to go back to her elementary school and middle school, which I think that means the world to her. And Leland made that possible," Sullivan said.
