McKenzie Elementary School third grade students (left to right), Veronica Palmer, Abby Wang, Alina Hirschle, Charlotte Yager-Madden, Natalie Burnell and Kate Swain, at a bake sale raising money for Hurricane Harvey victims.
“It was devastating,” Dr. Melissa Allen, principal of Thompson Intermediate School, said tearfully, as she stood in a flooded hallway at the school located in Pasadena, Texas.
Dr. Allen recounted some of the damage suffered from Hurricane Harvey, such as the gymnasium floor that buckled from flooding, orchestra and band instruments destroyed, as well as countless instructional materials ruined, on a Youtube video recorded shortly after the storm.
Thompson Intermediate is one of the schools in the Pasadena Independent School District that Wilmette School District 39 aims to help with a two-week campaign to raise money for a community torn apart by Hurricane Harvey.
Even before school started, parents and staff were asking principals across the district how Wilmette could help victims of the hurricane. Rebecca Littman, principal of Central Elementary School recounted how she was approached by a first grade student who wanted to help after seeing Harvey’s damage on the news.
“We realized even our youngest students were identifying with the victims of the storm,” Littman told DailyNorthShore.
When principals from across the district realized that they had all been approached by students, they decided that a districtwide effort to help schools impacted by Hurricane Harvey was the best response. District 39 held a similar campaign effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Littman noted.
After looking at the website Principals Helping Principals, and seeing the video posted by Thompson Intermediate School, they decided to focus on helping the Pasadena Independent School District. “It was so impactful to see the video,” Littman said. “We felt that was a district that really needed our help,” she said.
Pasadena Independent School District is a large school district just southeast of Houston serving 56,000 students, nearly 77% of whom are economically disadvantaged. Many school buildings were badly damaged, as well as many students and staff members were displaced from their homes after the storm.
District 39 initiated its fundraising campaign on September 15, enlisting parents, students, staff and community members who wanted to help. Each school has a jar placed at the front door where students can deposit change. At Central, the jar says “together we can rebuild schools and rebuild lives,” Littman said. There is also a website where donations can be made directly to the Pasadena Educational Foundation.
But the campaign has expanded beyond financial support. One class is making a large quilt for victims, while other classes have engaged in letter writing campaigns to raise the spirits of students impacted by the storm.
Some teachers were so inspired by their students’ letters, that they began their own letter writing campaign to teachers in Pasadena, according to Littman. “It is so nice to see this initiative grow over time,” she said.
Julie Mirabelli’s third class at Central embarked on a kindness quilt project — a large quilt that contains upbeat messages on each square — after watching a video about the storm and talking about what it means to help others in need. “(Each student) came up with their messages on their own and were so heartfelt and thoughtful in what they wanted to impart,” Mirabelli wrote in an email to DailyNorthShore.
Many students were inspired to think creatively of how to raise money outside of the confines of school. Natalie Burnell, a third grader at McKenzie Elementary School and her classmates, sold lemonade, snacks and baked goods at Vattman Park after school on September 29.
“We have lots of sweets because people love sweets, and the more money we raise the better, because it is all for hurricane victims,” Burnell told DailyNorthShore.
The girls prepared for the sale by making gallons of lemonade, baking dozens of cookies, and holding poster parties. They even wrote a script for announcements over the loud speaker at school.
The District 39 campaign not only helps the victims of Hurricane Harvey, but it also teaches a valuable lesson to students. “When children this age are asked to reach out to help they need a tangible experience for it to mean something to them. Creating messages, using math to design a quilt, physically glueing things down on their own, all of this makes them feel like they are taking part in something,” Mirabelli said.
To donate directly to the Pasadena Educational Foundation go to www1.pasadenaisd.org.