Merrit Corrigan decided to try out a joke.
"What do you call a cow with no legs?" the 16-year-old Texas girl asked and giving pause for a response answered, "Ground Beef!"
Her joke was a hit during yesterday's taping of "Impacting GWARC," a game show that pitted Greater Waltham ARC clients against a group of high school students.
Hailing from from as far away as Alabama and Oregon, students participating in the Project Impact program met at the Waltham Community Access Corporation building on Main Street yesterday, where they organized the game show.
Brandeis University and the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization created Project Impact, a summer social-action program focusing on community service opportunities. The Youth Organization is a nationwide effort that helps Jewish teens become involved in community and leadership programs.
Alexis Marcus, 17, a student at Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham, Ala., said this summer she wanted to participate in a community-service focused Jewish summer program.
"This is the only one in the United States centered around Judaism," she said. "It's been awesome."
The 12-day program involves a total of 61 students ages 16 and 17. The teenagers applied to be part of Project Impact during the school year. According to its Web site, tuition for the program is $1,850.
Since June 24, the students have been living in dorms on the Brandeis's campus. During the day students participate in different projects soup kitchens and housing advocacy organizations across Greater Boston. Eleven students have been working with the Greater Waltham Arc.
Their purpose is two fold, to learn more about developmental disabilities and also become educated on nonprofits.
In the end, Project Impact students will write an article about their experiences for the Arc's Web site in addition to their work on creating "Impacting GWARC."
Yesterday's game show had some of the students working behind the scenes on soundboards and cameras, while others participated on stage. The students taped 45 minutes of discussion, trivia and humor yesterday.
Eli Terris, Brandeis University student and Project Impact team leader, explained the object of the game show was to "show other people in the community that the (Arc clients) are part of the community."
"Through this experience, working hands-on and learning about people with developmental disabilities, they get to learn about the individuals and their place in society," the 21-year old said.
WCAC-TV staff was on hand to help the students operate the television equipment.
"We're just so happy to have them here. The students seem to be enjoying themselves," said Maria Sheehan, Waltham Community Access Corporation executive director."It's great for our staff to work with GWARC. They are such a great organization to have here in the city. We're happy to help them in any way we can."
For many, the past week has been the first time they've worked with people with developmentally disabilities, like Stephanie Perlman, 17, of The Steward School in Richmond, Va.
"This experience has been amazing," she said. "I was a little uncomfortable at first working around persons with developmental disabilities. After spending five minutes with them, I had such a different view."
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com
