NEW MADISON – Can jeans, sunglasses, pajamas, costumes, crazy hair, hats, and ice cream sundaes help people recover from a hurricane? Tri-Village fourth grade students will answer that question with an emphatic YES! The students set out to raise a thousand dollars to purchase school supplies for students at two Houston area schools, but by Friday students had more than doubled their goal and raised $2,434.54.
Teacher Lindsay Bergman brought the idea to the administration and then took it to her students with overwhelming support. The students were excited at the prospect of helping others by having fun and ice cream sundaes at lunch. While the students paid a dollar to participate in the daily activities of wearing sunglasses, pajamas, hats, costumes and crazy hair, the faculty paid $10 each for the privilege of wearing jeans the entire week. Fourth grade students also used a donation sheet to ask family members and neighbors to donate money.
Although students at Tri-Village enjoyed the special week, Bergman was well aware that some students in Texas no longer have homes, let alone school supplies, clothes, or other essentials.
Elementary Principal Shane Mead pointed out some of these schools lost much of their curriculum, and while Tri-Village can’t replace that, he’s excited by how the students and staff were able to come together and exceed their goal.
Bergman picked Carroll Elementary, which is located approximately 10 miles north of downtown Houston. The K-4 school serves 1,080 students and was used by surrounding neighborhoods as a refuge from rising water. A statement from a school representative said, “Many of our students lost just about everything and they didn’t have a lot to begin with, which is even more heartbreaking.” The representative went on to add, “The biggest thing that the kids will need are undergarments, uniforms, solid colored collared shirts, backpacks, toiletries, non-perishable food, etc.”
Tri-Village students have also adopted Westside High School in Houston. Again, most of these students didn’t have much to begin with, but lost a lot. The school has 92-percent of its students on free and reduced lunches.
Bergman’s fourth-graders are not only finding there is fun in FUNdraising, they are also getting an education. Although the school’s science teacher came in to explain what a hurricane is and the affect it can have on a community, the lesson did not end there. The students are also responsible for counting the money at the end of the day and will also be setting a budget and deciding which items to purchase for the two schools. They have also made graphs to display daily totals.
The items will be purchased through Amazon and shipped directly to the schools affected.
PHOTO CAPTION: Several of Lindsay Bergman’s fourth graders are standing in front of the ice cream sundae bar and displaying some of the money raised during the fundraiser.