Students step up to help Harvey victims

Students from across Lincoln Public Schools are pitching in to help others affected by Hurricane Harvey. Below are just some of the extraordinary examples:

 

Rousseau students raise money for Houston Food Bank

A group of Rousseau Elementary School students have done their part to help victims of Hurricane Harvey by raising nearly $1,500 for the Houston Food Bank.

The students, ranging in age from 2nd to 5th grade, spearheaded three fundraisers during the past few weeks: a penny drive, a lemonade and cookie stand, and an art sale.

The kids have raised about $1,000 through the penny drive, which was the idea of one student and her mother. Three other students organized a lemonade and cookie stand in front of the school on a recent Saturday; that raised nearly $300.

Another student, 2nd-grader Luna, raised nearly $200 by selling her artwork.

“We knew we could help a lot of people with the money we raised,” she said.

Rousseau Principal Wendy Badje beamed with pride as she talked about what the students have accomplished.

“It just shows the power of one little idea,” Badje said. 

East High History students take action to help Harvey victims

Students in Alise Pape’s U.S. History classes at East High School often discuss current events. In the case of recent Hurricane Harvey news, Pape challenged them to not only talk about the events in Houston but to take action.

They collected school supplies to donate to teachers in the Houston area, part of a nationwide effort coordinated through the website adoptaclassroom.org. Pape’s students collected roughly 30 notebooks, 20 folders, more than 200 pencils and pens and more than 1,000 sheets of paper, as well as dry-erase markers, baby diapers and book covers.

She packaged and mailed the supplies to Royal High School just outside Houston last week.

“I knew my kids were kind and generous individuals and they would do a great job collecting materials,” Pape said. “It was an incredibly proud moment for me as a teacher.”

She thinks her students learned a valuable lesson from the experience.

“I think it is really important to model civic engagement for students and show them how important it is in moments like these that as Americans we need to come together and help each other.”


Published: September 20, 2017, Updated: September 21, 2017