Students at Kate Andrews High School lived up to the name of their campaign: We Create Change.
In fewer than 130 school days, the students, led by We Create Change Co-ordinator and Social Studies teacher Mike Gibson, managed to raise $10,000, enough to build a school in the developing world.
The school is one of 200 the organization Free the Children hopes to build this year in honour of the late Nelson Mandela, who championed every child’s right to an education.
Twenty-two students attended We Day in Calgary, where they were inspired to take on the cause. What followed were a series of bake sales, barbecues, raffles, and concessions. Students read with elementary students to raise money and raised awareness in the community to gain support. Every $20 raised represented one brick in the school.
Gibson says his Social Studies classes raised close to $4,000 through various challenges and initiatives.
The campaign had help from another Palliser Regional School as well. Teacher Mitchell Van Dyk’s Grade 6 class at Dorothy Dalgliesh contributed $1,300 to the KAHS We Create Change effort.
Gibson also thanked student Jessica Lohues, who served as the campaign’s spokesperson at every
assembly); The Leo Club; Calm classes; Marketing classes; Nicolletta Roelofs (providing delicious $5 lunches; Julianne Harker (for her beautiful artwork); learning assistant Pjam Swen for her wonderful knitted products; Danny Wheeler (electric wheelchair sold for $500); Devany Holland and Nicole
Hanna who put together the brick by brick donation wall on display at the school; Amanda Beaton, Devany Holland, Tori Lutz, and Kiara Strobel who wrote the names of donors on the wall each week; and Connor Kingston, who updated a thermometer display showing the contribution totals; and Hannah Dyck, who helped create the two posters on display at the celebration assembly.
To read the Sunny South News coverage of this story, please click here.