Haitian Relief What Happened

WE DID IT!!

cc licensed flickr photo shared by charbeck10

Sargent Park School raised $2100 for Haitian Earthquake Relief.  When you couple this with the Canadian Governments matching all donations we raised $4200.  This is very respectable for a school of only 1000 students.  How did this all happen? Let's go back in time....

Earlier in the week I had been showing "The Big Picture" photo essays from Haiti.  This started the classes thinking.  At a blog post I requested the students to leave comments behind on what could be done at Sargent Park School.

These are the comments they came up with!! Now they had to make it happen!! We had a meeting and the Grade 8 students asked the Student Council if they could use a Fine Friday to help Haiti.  The student council agreed and the ball was set in motion.



Three teams of students created presentations to show to the school.  Each presentation based on the age level of the students watching.  We chose K to 3 for one assembly, 4 to 6 for another assembly and finally we had the Grade 7 and 9 students.  The Grade 8 students did not come to the assemblies because they had already had many information sessions about what was happening in Haiti already.

It was great to see the STUDENTS taking charge of the situation.  They were empowered to be the ones in charge.  Granted I set the ball in motion and planted the seeds BUT they took the initiative to get the whole school involved.

Fine Friday is a great fundraiser.  The school suspends "rules" that can be circumvented by paying a fine.  We chose 3 rules; no hats, no iPods in class and no stuffed animals in the classroom.  All of these school based rules would be waved on the Friday if the students payed a fine of a dollar.  This meant that the students bring in $1 to $3 donate to Haitian Relief.

As you can see from the first picture we did it.  Every student on average brought in $2.  Over 95% of the student participated.  There are no costs involved so everything was pure profit as a fundraiser. Both teachers and the students were impressed with the amount of money raised.

All of this activity falls back into the 2 Minutes to Make a Difference Movie Project that will be finished by late April.  I hope that the students now realize that One student or person CAN make a difference.

Student Response to the Haitian Earthquake

We held our student meeting today.  The turnout was good and the students were excited to get to work.  They decided we would have a FINE FRIDAY. Students can pay a fine and be allowed to listen to Ipods and wear hats inside the school.  It allows all to participate for a minimal fine.  In a school of 1000 students we should be able to raise up to $1500.  We are allowing students to pay a double fine if they wish.

The group decided to create posters to create awareness, get a PSA spot on the announcements and make presentations for the rest of the school.  Each group would be responsible for different grade levels.  There are many gripping images out there.  Some just are not appropriate for the younger students.  On Wednesday the groups will fan out throughout the school talking about the earthquake and how it has devastated Haiti.

Here is a draft of the parent letter that have sent for proof reading...

Dear Parents

On Tuesday January 12 Haiti was devastated by a large earthquake.  Haiti already one of the poorest countries in the world scrambled to save its citizens.  In recent days aid agencies have been working hard to help the people of Haiti.  These agencies require money to keep the supplies going to people in need. 

On Friday the school is holding a fundraiser.  It is called FINE FRIDAY.  Students are encouraged to bring a dollar or two and participate.  The Elementary students will be allowed to wear a hat during the school day or bring a stuffed animal to school as their "fine".  For the Junior High students the will pay a fine to be able to listen to their Ipods or wear a hat.  This is a fun way to raise awareness about this important world event. 

All students received presentations about what was happening in Haiti.  For more information please check out the following websites:

•  The Big Picture from the Boston Globe Haiti 6 Days Later http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/01/haiti_six_days_later.html
•  The Big Picture from the Boston Globe Earthquake In Haiti http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/01/earthquake_in_haiti.html
•  2010 Haiti Earthquake from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake
•  The Haitian Earthquake and the student comments Sargent Park Math Zone http://sargentparkmathzone.blogspot.com/2010/01/haitian-earthquake.html

Thank you for your understanding.  All donations will be donated to UNICEF.  This agency looks after children.  The students felt it was important to have all donations go to children.  The Canadian International Development Agency or CIDA will match all donations.  Any donation is greatly appreciated. 

It was great to give the power to the students.  See them take charge of the situation and start to get the message out.  To often we adults take control, this takes power away from the students when they need it the most.  With all the work the students have done on their movie projects this year they are finally learning what it is to be global citizens.

I will keep you updated... thanks for reading.

Haitian Earthquake Part 2

cc licensed flickr photo shared by Got Phi

I showed the students another photo essay on Friday.  I also showed them the comments other students have left behind.  All students agreed that something had to be done.  As I read the comments to them the more head nodding I was seeing.  They have decided to meet a lunch on Monday to come up with a fund raising idea.https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1019297942530526331&postID=7854468568988799374

While we were doing our own investigation of the Haitian Earthquake the other teachers in the school came to the room.  They wanted to make what the Grade 8 students had thought of a whole school project.  This was fantastic.  I was impressed with how the students ideas were spreading already.

Now the students will be running the show on Monday and taking responsibility for fundraising.  Here is one way to make students become activists.  I will update this post on Tuesday to tell you of how the meeting went and what the students have decided to do.