Rushville student memorial project gets boost from 812 area

Students accomplished their goal!

(RUSHVILLE, Ind.) – Rushville High School students created an initiative to honor two of their classmates who lost their lives in the past year. 

17-year-old Valerie Tindall was abducted and killed over the summer. Her killer has been sentenced to 57 years in prison. 

Rushville students are also mourning Tanner Harrison, 17, who unexpectedly passed away in October. 

The students wanted to honor both Tindall and Harrison in a unique way. 

Dana Durbin, who also serves as The 812’s student photographer for Rushville athletics, is among those who organized the initiative. 

“My friend, Isabella Pavey, and I, wanted to do something permanent, so we brainstormed and took the idea to our principal, Mr. Cook, who was completely on board with the idea,” Durbin said. 

They began collecting bottle caps in January with the goal of building two benches. 

In order to build the benches, the students needed 950 pounds of bottle caps. 

The Rushville community stepped up and the students are also getting support from outside the area. 

Following our initial story last week, several people in Batesville reached out to offer bottle caps they’ve been collecting. 

Kayla Eckstein, Susan Schwegman and Elizabeth Hall reached out to The 812 willing to donate their collections.

We delivered those caps which totaled 58 pounds to the school on Tuesday. 

“It is really cool to see something go beyond us and have the support from other communities,” Durbin said. “We’ve even got about 50 pounds from Florida and it’s really cool that this has gone outside of Rush County."

After counting the bottle caps on Tuesday, the students have surpassed their goal by collecting 1,095 pounds.

The donation drive will continue until next week and you can learn more here.