Campbell teens create a helping hand for their classmates

CAMPBELL

As Russ Bailey tells it, a giant bucket of sidewalk chalk on sale for $2 started it all.

Last week, Bailey, a Campbell Memorial High School art teacher of 18 years, noticed three of his students — freshmen Suhad Albaat and Samantha Koullias, both 15, and sophomore Alexis Santiago, 16 — trying to think of something they “could do to inspire people, boost morale and make people feel good.”

Their thoughts then turned to the underused courtyard and amphitheater nestled within the high school’s campus. They thought of the mandalas — “circular designs representing balance in the universe,” Bailey said — they’d recently learned about in their art classes.

And, of course, they thought of the giant bucket of sidewalk chalk.

In the span of just three hours Thursday, Albaat, Koullias and Santiago, helped by a few others, filled the courtyard with a mandala of their own. They gave up their study halls and lunches to do so.

“We see a lot of kids who are stressed and depressed around school,” explained Koullias, citing a difficult home life, final exams or relationship problems as the source. “We wanted to do something to make them feel a little bit better.”

Read more about their project in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.