At about 7:20 on a recent morning, the Kenmore Junior High cafeteria was nearly empty and as eerily silent as study hall. A few students spread out across the large room sat at tables, poring over their schoolbooks and notepads, leaving plenty of space for whatever activity was in store. Nicole Donovan flitted around the room, taping student homeroom lists to the tables, eyeing the empty boxes to the side and making sure everything was in order.
“Pretty soon, this room will be full of teenagers,” said a smiling Donovan, parent of two Kenmore Junior High students and social-services director of the school’s PTSA (Parents, Students, Teachers Association).
And then came the onslaught of students as the half-hour mark hit.
The once-quiet atmosphere turned into a sort of controlled chaos, with some students sitting at their homeroom-sheet spots, guiding others where to place an array of items like cans of soup and fruit, jars of spaghetti sauce, boxes of crackers, cereal and Kleenex, and packages of toilet paper, toothpaste and more. Much more.
“Holy, moly, that’s gonna be too heavy. Let’s move the top level of cans,” Donovan told a student. “Cans on the bottom, please,” she informed another. As the boxes started to fill up and the whirlwind of activity continued, Donovan doled out plenty of hugs to the kids.
One girl hollered across the room, “How are we doing?” — her friend flashed a thumb’s up.
This is what the school’s “Pack the Bus” food drive is all about. From March 7-11, the students collected food and cash donations for the Concern for Neighbors food bank in Mountlake Terrace. Last year, the final tally hit 11,300 food items; items and cash totaled $11,899.50. This year’s goal was 15,000 items.
It’s just one of many Northshore School District service projects and fund-raisers that take place each year. To name a few:
• Skyview Junior High and Fernwood Elementary are on board with “Pennies for Patients,” collecting money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Fernwood also held a coin drive in February and raised $1,685 for the nonprofit “Well Done Organization,” which builds clean water wells and betters sanitization facilities in Liberia, Africa.
• Northshore Junior High will have a Battle of the Bands and raise money for the American Cancer Society and the school’s Relay for Life Team March 25. The school also held a food drive in January, with students and staff donating 5,278 items, $900 and a $10 Target gift card.
• At Inglemoor High, the French Club, Relay for Life Club and the volleyball team hold events and raise money for the Adopt a Village program in Senegal, Africa; the American Cancer Society; and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
• Crystal Springs Elementary’s Balloon Club (students who meet weekly to practice balloon-making designs) will hold its next event March 31 at the spring dance to raise money for Children’s Hospital. So far, they’ve raised $200 after two events.
BOARDING THE BUS
After students filled boxes each morning at Kenmore Junior High, they were moved onto a school bus, which sat in the parking lot all week. Last Friday, items were put on a truck and driven to Concern for Neighbors.
Eighth-grader Isaac Jefferson impressed his classmates while flexing his muscles to lift a heavy box onto the bus.
“Having it being fun is a plus side to helping the people with the food and all,” he said.
Andrea Resurreccion, a ninth-grader, added: “It’s cool to see that kids care and the kids are contributing to the community. I think it’s a good way to have everyone involved.”
Saige Danby, also an eighth-grader, noted that it’s important that the food items “go to the families of some of the kids that actually go to our school.”
Donovan was impressed with this day’s result, noting that it was the biggest haul they had during the project.
There were times during the half-hour collection rush where Donovan and others looked like they might be bulled over by the cheery, energetic students who were clearly wide awake for their first activity of the morning.
“There’s so much excitement about what they’re doing. They’re a great bunch of kids that just want to help the community, so it feels really good to be in the middle of that — chaos,” Donovan said.
And parent-wise, Donovan feels the project is a perfect fit for the kids. “It’s important to not just raise good students through school, but to raise good human beings,” she said. “This is one of the causes that I was really passionate about being involved in.”
PITCHING PENNIES
When Skyview Junior High ninth-grader Hailey Hunt phoned the Reporter three weeks ago, she said students and teachers were halfway to their goal of raising $3,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Mission accomplished, and then some: $3,278.
Through their three-week “Pennies for Patients” program, the 15 associated student body (ASB) youths (Hunt is the treasurer and project leader) gave everyone an extra push that final week to nail down that final tally on March 4. Hunt noted that people brought in “bags and bags of money” of all coin types to place in the 34 collection boxes, one in each classroom.
“They really pulled through and raised a lot at the end,” said Hunt, noting that the battle for best class was intense to win a pizza party; second place got ice-cream sundaes and third received cookies. Seventh-grader Leah Dooley added that the competition sent “sparks” through students’ minds to grab first place.
“I know there’s been a lot of students at our school who have been affected by cancer, and I know at least one who had cancer. It’s so great that they’re going to get better treatment because of what we did,” said Dooley. “I just think a lot of students are very passionate about this, so that’s why we had such a successful drive.”
“We’re helping other people feel good, but it makes you feel good, as well,” Hunt continued. “It’s definitely worth it, and it’s kind of fun to be the leader of it, to organize it, get all the posters up, collect all the money in the boxes. It’s fun to take the leadership and see that everyone else is enjoying it, as well.”
ASB adviser and English teacher Gin Ernster noted that the fervor to donate wasn’t about the prizes, but to assist other people.
She added that the ninth-grade Skyview student who had leukemia is doing well. Ernster has him in class and they go to the same church, and she “remembers them battling that, and one of things people struggle with is finding money for treatment. So this was just one small way (to help). $3,000 may not seem like a lot, but it’s gonna make a big difference to a couple families.
“When the students have a classmate and they saw him going through that, they just felt a little more connected and willing to give.”
FERNWOOD GOES FOR TWO
Fernwood Elementary students, teachers and parents are doubling up with fund-raisers with “Pennies for Patients” and “The Big Climb,” a 69-floor ascent of the Seattle Columbia Tower in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Fernwood teacher Wayne Anderson has an 8-year-old daughter who is in the second year of her battle with leukemia, and social-services chair Salina Larson noted that students “know him and what he goes through and have been moved to join the ‘The Big Climb.'”
The climb will take place March 20, and Fernwood’s “Team Lydia” (named for Anderson’s daughter and the poster-child for the event) will feature 46 climbers — adults, students and other children. Larson said the goal was to raise $5,000, but they’re already on board with more than $6,000 in pledges.
Fernwood’s “Pennies for Patients” goal is $1,000, said Larson, who has children at the school. Last year, the school raised $839.85 for the Hopelink food bank and collected 336 pounds of food, which translated into $504.
“We’re making sure the kids are aware of the community outside of their school,” Larson said. “It’s a pretty valuable lesson.”
Judging from the reaction of Karlene Ross’ second-grade students, who watched a “Pennies” DVD and put together their coin boxes on Monday, everyone’s ready to donate.
“If you understand what we’re doing, give me a thumb’s up,” Ross asked.
Students said “yeah” in unison as a roomful of arms reached into the air with thumbs set firmly in the up position.
