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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Poland High School Seminary students stood with the Mahoning County Educational Service Center students they raised money to buy a smartboard for.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Poland Seminary High School students worked together to raise money to help purchase a SMART Board for the Mahoning County Educational Service Center’s special needs class.
Senior Harley Kish came up with the idea when her composition class was assigned a project to set a goal and work toward that goal. Many students decided to do Do-It-Yourself projects, but Kish wanted to do a larger project to help out students in the school.
“They’re part of the school and they’re some of the nicest kids that we know,” said Kish.
Although the project was supposed to be done individually, Kish was allowed to work with other students because she wanted to work toward a larger goal. Kish worked with fellow classmates Juliana Sienkiewicz and Meredith Garthwaite.
The three students worked with members of the student council and their teacher Madison Gessler to raise money to put toward purchasing a SMART Board.
One week the students participated in a dress down week where they could buy a ticket for $1 for one day, or $3 for four days. The dress down week raised around $400. Another idea the students came up with was a supply drive that lasted for two weeks. They worked with teachers Mrs. Dreier and Mrs. Coyler to decide what supplies were needed most for the students. There were around 200 supplies donated toward the group’s project. Student council hosted a dodgeball tournament that raised another $300.
“Total we raised around $700 throughout all of the things we have done. We raised about half and the County matched what we raised,” said Sienkiewicz.
The assignment took around nine weeks to complete from planning, raising the money and meeting the goal. The students worked with the principals to come up with ideas that would raise money and supplies for the class.
“The principals were also a big help, Mr. Snyder and Mr. Gondol,” said Garthwaite. “They were very supportive of the whole idea.”
The MCESC students sell popcorn every Friday for the PSHS students to enjoy. Their popcorn sales eventually lead to the nickname “Popcorn Crew.” A message board in the school hallway was created with pictures of the Popcorn Crew, their names and information about them so the PSHS students could see it and get to know who they were helping raise money for.
The students who received the SMART Board and supplies were very appreciative and grateful for what the girls have done for them. Kish, Garthwaite and Sienkiewicz gave a lot of credit to Gessler for helping them with their project and giving them advice on how to do their best for the MCESC class.