Orchard Park Public School has
heart, hope for Haiti

Feb. 26, 2010

By Jason Misner
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, HDSB STAFF

One female student donated money received from the tooth fairy.

Another boy parted ways with cash collected to buy a coveted drum set.

To say Orchard Park Public School (OP) students have heart would be an understatement.

The 768-student Kindergarten-Grade 8 school has taken to heart the plight of the Haitian people following the deadly January 12 earthquake that demolished the Caribbean country, sending buildings crashing to the ground and injuring thousands of residents.

Under the supervision of dedicated OP staff members, the students took part in a generous campaign called Hope for Haiti to help the country recover from the widespread devastation. Within that umbrella campaign, the school endeavoured on two key assignments: Hands for Haiti and Heroes for Haiti.

The Hands for Haiti component involved kids writing a message of hope on a hand shape.

One of the dozens upon dozens of messages sprinkled through the school’s hallways reads: “My hope for Haiti is that they will live and get more food.”

Heroes for Haiti involved students writing their names on a heart following a donation. The heart shape was also chosen to acknowledge Valentine’s Day.

The underlying message of the campaign was that students come up with their own ideas on how they should give, on how they should help. Staff preferred the kids look within themselves to discover how they should give rather than asking their parents for money.

It was really about kids helping kids.

“We asked kids to think about ways they could be a child helping another child,” said Grade 3 teacher Heather Mule, one of around a dozen staff helping out on the campaign, as well as some parents

The school was also given a slideshow presentation about Haiti.

The Hope for Haiti project culminated with a one-day donation blitz on February 9. On that day, kids – whom teachers said showed so much pride in wanting to help ¬– brought in their donations and were encouraged to wear red and navy blue, the flag colours of Haiti.

The date was chosen so the donations received still met the Canadian government’s matching donation deadline of February 12. In total, the school raised more than $5,400.
So much money was raised that it took a change counter at a local bank three hours to tally up the amount of cash collected.

Grade 8 student Chad said the project “encouraged” all kids “to help out in the community.

Rachel, in Grade 3, said, “It just felt like we were helping another friend.”

“It made me feel good,” said Grade 3 student McKenna.

Mule and senior kindergarten teacher Samantha Hammel, another dedicated helper, were blown away by the students’ responses. The two help run OP’s Kids Inspiring Selfless Service (K.I.S.S.) club.

They applauded the work of local businesses that supported the Hope for Haiti drive.

“People were jumping through hoops to help us out,” said Hammel. “Literally, all the staff (members’) hands and hearts were in this project. It’s an amazing school.

The campaign, the school says, was designed to achieve two things – provide immediate help to Haiti and ensure the school provides long-term assistance for the country as it recovers over the many years.

OP principal Libby Stephenson was thrilled with the dedication of the entire school to helping Haiti recover from such devastation.  She said it brought more awareness to kids and their “ability to make a difference.”

“It’s not over,” she said of OP’s desire to continue helping, “it’s just the beginning.”

Said Mule: “We’ve already got tons more ideas.”