Austintown Middle School raises money for Sandy Hook

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Neighbors | Submitted.Many classes in Austintown school district came together to make and send snowflakes to the community at Sandy Hook. Eighth-grade Austintown Middle School social studies teacher Jaclyn Elias (left) and third-grade Watson Elementary School teacher Dana Elias are shown with the snowflakes their classes made.

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Austintown Middle School students Paul Bracey (left), Sam Anderson, Connor Dorman, and Jaret Filler (right) celebrated the school's success in raising more than $700 for Sandy Hook Elementary School by goofing off.

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Jaclyn Elias' homebase class won third place in the contest to raise money for Sandy Hook Elementary School. Students are, from left, (front) Payton Mraz, Lauryn Marstellar, Brittany Latimer, Cheyanne Needham, Vincent Xu, Jaret Filler; (middle) Devin Carlini, Connor Dorman, Marquis Barbel, Mason Tibbetts, Samantha Toth, Charles Bowers, Jaclyn Elias; (back) Paul Bracey, Hope Sudol, Gary Coole, Cody Bielik, Kyland Pankey, and Anthony Popio.

The students in Austintown came together to help those affected by the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December,

Teachers and students wanted to do something to make a difference. Jaclyn Elias, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Austintown Middle School, was approached by an eighth-grade student who knew one of the students who died and wanted to do something to bring hope and peace to the Newtown community.

Along with numerous schools across the country, Austintown Middle School students and staff began creating snowflakes, which would be used to decorate the school where the students of Sandy Hook would return, like a winter wonderland. The snowflakes were sent in January.

Elias also planned a fundraiser with her student council members at AMS. For two weeks, they collected donations in homebase classrooms for Sandy Hook. The three classes raising the most money won a class pizza party.

At the end of the fundraiser, AMS raised and donated $700. The top three classes celebrated with pizza parties on March 1. Michelle Benich’s sixth-grade class raised more than $200, students in Karen Pavligo’s sixth-grade class donated more than $150, and Jaclyn Elias’ eighth-grade homebase gave in excess of $100.