Across Baltimore County, students have been moved by the images they have seen and stories they have read about Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and their aftermath. Just as they did last year in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, students are leading efforts to raise funds and other support for the survivors. This article offers highlights of some of the countless relief activities taking place in our schools.

Battle Grove Elementary

Inspired by a television news story, Battle Grove Elementary art teacher Colleen Dulaj asked students and teachers to collect for WJZ-TV’s hurricane relief fund. To spur donations, she pledged to match all the funds that came in on the first day. Students brought in $847 on that first day, which Ms. Dulaj matched for a total of $1,694. Other teachers and staff matched funds raised on other days of the campaign. School counselor Allyson Leven visited classrooms each day to collect contributions. After just a few days, WJZ-TV sent reporter Ron Matz to the school to do a news story about the successful fundraising project. By the end of September, the school had raised a total of $7,473.23. Fundraising efforts were supplemented by art projects in which students expressed feelings about the hurricane. Through the month of October, this artwork is on display at the North Point Branch of the Baltimore County Public Library

Catonsville High

On Saturday, October 29, 2005, at 7:00 p.m., the students of Catonsville High School are coordinating a Hurricane Relief Concert to benefit the victims of Katrina and Rita. The proceeds will be donated to the Salvation Army. The concert will include bluegrass band Jericho Bridge, the Catonsville High Steel Drum Band, and other local and school acts. Tickets will be sold at the door for $7. Jericho Bridge is a Baltimore area bluegrass band that mixes traditional, contemporary and original songs and instrumentals, with influences as diverse as Bill Monroe, Thelonious Monk, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd. The Catonsville High Steel Drum Band specializes in calypso and soca influences from Trinidad and Tobago. It also incorporates popular, jazz, and classical music for steel drums.

Chesapeake Terrace Elementary

With the help of generous community members, staff and students of Chesapeake Terrace Elementary completely filled a 28' moving van with all sorts of items so desperately needed by recent hurricane survivors. Just two years ago, the families surrounding Chesapeake Terrace suffered various challenges due to Hurricane Isabelle; they saw this as an opportunity to help others living through a natural disaster.

Dan Niedens, owner of Good Samaritan Moving and Storage in Chase, Maryland, provided the truck and driver to deliver everything - totally free of charge - to Louisiana. His response when the school called was, "I've been looking for a way to help. I've got the truck and driver waiting for you when you are ready." His company has truly earned the name, "Good Samaritan."

On Monday, October 3, students formed a "fire-brigade" to move the mountain of boxes from the cafeteria to the waiting truck at the front of the school. In the end, it was loaded to full capacity with needed supplies, even including walkers, baby furniture, new bicycles, and a hospital bed!

Church Lane Elementary Technology

Collection jars have been placed around the school, and parents were asked to contribute during Back-to-School-Night.

Deep Creek Elementary

Second grade students at Deep Creek Elementary are leading a school-wide project to help hurricane victims. These students are eager to help the families recently devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Led by second grade teachers Tracy Collins, Corinne Siegman, Deena Zellner, and Val Luddy, children brainstormed ways to assist their fellow Americans. The students decided to collect spare change by recycling milk cartons from lunch to be used as banks. 

Second grade students announced the idea to the entire student body and gained instant approval from other grade levels. Students are bringing their banks to school each day and emptying them into a large empty water jug. Students arrive with milk jugs and small baggies, in addition to the milk cartons filled with change. Grade four students have volunteered to count the accumulated change as a daily math activity, while others will give daily reports to the school on the morning announcements. The total amount raised by Deep Creek Elementary will be matched by Cingular Wireless and donated to the American Red Cross.

Deer Park Elementary

Deer Park Elementary has been collecting money for several weeks. The students and faculty have generously donated their pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollars. Many of the students have donated entire coin collections. Money was collected until September 30. Based on a preliminary count, the school raised has raised more than $620.

Funds raised will be donated to America's Second Harvest, which supplies food to the victims in the Gulf region. The Second Harvest web site indicates that $1 will buy four bags of food. Deer Park calculates that it has helped donate at least 2,480 bags of food. Every person who makes a donation wrote his or her name on a paper apple, which helped to fill a basket displayed on the wall in the main hall. This is a very visual way for the students to see that even a small donation adds up to a large amount.

Deer Park Middle Magnet

On Thursday, September 29, Deer Park Middle Magnet hosted a benefit Concert for Katrina's Kids. The Deer Park Band, Choir, and Dance Troop performed along with special guest the Lionel Lyles Jazz Quintet. A minimum $5 donation was required. All proceeds will go to the hurricane relief efforts.

Dumbarton Middle

Dumbarton Middle students are having a Penny War to raise funds for hurricane relief.

Edgemere Elementary

The students and families of Edgemere Elementary opened their hearts and piggy banks for the survivors of Katrina, collecting a total of $3,004.17.

Essex Elementary

Students are supporting hurricane survivors by participating in a Spare Change Drive in their classrooms. In addition, the Parent Community Outreach Committee and Essex PTA are collecting donations for the American Red Cross and held an auction during the recent Back to School night. Items sold at the auction had been donated by local businesses. In conjunction with the school, Aero Motors put a change bucket in its store on Essex Day, September 18.

General John Stricker Middle

Within eight days, students and staff at General John Stricker Middle School collected over $4,000 for hurricane victims. The donations were gathered through a variety of activities including collecting change, a faculty silent auction, and the sale of green ribbon "awareness" pins.

Gunpowder Elementary

The students, parents, and staff of Gunpowder Elementary School are proud to announce that they have collected $9,000 for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Their $9,000 donation is generously being matched by the General Electric Corporation for a total of $18,000. In addition to their financial donation, Gunpowder students have also collected several boxes of teddy bears and blankets for the children of Louisiana.

Harford Hills Elementary

Through September 23, Harford Hills Elementary collected funds to support American Red Cross relief efforts in the Gulf Region. They call their campaign "Helping Hands of Harford Hills, Healing Hearts of Hurricane Katrina."

Hereford Middle

When Tom Rothschild, North County resident and vice president of marketing & business development of Millman Search Group, Inc., asked the Hereford Middle School staff to help his sister and her family in St. Bernard's Parish in Many, Louisiana (an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina), Hereford Middle heeded the call. However, by the time Hereford was through collecting, the number of families they were trying to help had grown to over 500. Two tractor-trailers filled with furniture, kitchen items, bedding, and canned goods were loaded by residents of the community and several Hereford Middle staff members and sent down to Louisiana to help those families.

Along with material goods, the students of Hereford Middle also wanted to help the Katrina victims, so they set up stations for collecting funds during back to school night and in the student cafeteria. Students succeeded in collecting over $2,500, and their goal of $3,000 is well within their reach. Together, staff and students of Hereford Middle are helping Katrina victims rebuild their lives.

Johnnycake Elementary

Students at Johnnycake Elementary have been conducting a Penny War under the leadership of Gifted and Talented Resource Teacher Alexandra Clough. The Penny War has raised more than $1,400 for hurricane survivors.

New Town Elementary

Twenty New Town Elementary students, working with Guidance Counselor Nadine LeVine, sent letters seeking relief funds to parents.

Perry Hall Middle

Through its Homemade Hugs from PHMS project, the art department and students are working to create 100 no-sew fleece blankets for children affected by the hurricane. JoAnn Fabrics is offering a discount on supplies.

In addition, Perry Hall Middle students collected for victims of Hurricane Katrina during lunch periods from September 6 - 13. The funds raised will be donated primarily to the American Red Cross. A smaller portion of the funds will be given to Noah's Wish, an animal rescue group.

Pleasant Plains Elementary

On Saturday, October 1, the students, community, and staff of Pleasant Plains Elementary participated in a combination car wash, flea market, and bake sale. All proceeds of the day will be donated to the Hurricane Katrina Educational Relief Fund. Additionally, On Friday, October 14, the Annual Faculty Variety Show will be held at 7:00 p.m. A portion of the proceeds from the evening will be added to the growing fund for relief victims.

Powhatan Elementary

To encourage donations for hurricane relief, a sign in the lobby reminds Powhatan Elementary staff and students to place their contributions in the collection container.

Relay Elementary

Relay Elementary students decided to do something to try to ease the suffering of the people affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Students made coin donations to the American Red Cross. For every dollar raised, a red heart was placed on a train engine poster in the school lobby. Trains are a very important part of the Relay community's history. Relay students collected more than $550.00.

In addition, Mrs. Stryjewski's first grade stepped up with a class donation of $460.00. Students in the class took on various jobs to earn money to help. Their donation was matched by the company of a parent in their class. They feel extremely proud of their contribution, and the $920.00 donation was added to the school's total collection.

Riderwood Elementary

In addition to collecting change and second graders creating personalized quilts for hurricane survivors, the school collected more than 100 new backpacks filled with toys, books, games, nonperishable snacks, and art and school supplies. These backpacks were driven to the Gulf Region to be distributed to children displaced by the hurricane.

Ridgely Middle

Several fundraisers and collections have taken place at Ridgely Middle School in order to help the survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Student Government Association (SGA) at Ridgely Middle organized two fundraisers to raise money for the American Red Cross. On September 24, the SGA, along with the PTA, held a car wash and bake sale at the school, and collected approximately $1,000 in donations. The SGA has also organized a yearlong fundraiser that will allow the students and staff of Ridgely to help the survivors of both hurricanes for the entire school year. The Buck-a-Month fundraiser asks the students and staff of Ridgely to donate $1.00 each at the beginning of each month. With more than 1,000 students in the school, the school hopes to collect more than $10,000 by the end of the school year.

The 7th grade teams came together to adopt the Seabrook Intermediate School in Houston, Texas. Seabrook has received displaced students who came with only enough personal items to last one or two days. Ridgely’s 7th grade teams gathered school supplies and school uniforms for the displaced students. All together more than 30 huge boxes were sent. The Ridgely faculty came together with donations to cover the $800 cost of the shipping! Awesome!

Finally, the Physical Education department organized “Health Kits for Hurricane Katrina Victims.” This month-long collection involved all the students, faculty, parents, and community members bringing in items such as washcloths, towels, soap, clippers, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and nail files. Several students and parents showed great interest and enthusiasm by working diligently and packing hundreds of kits with the items that many of the participants donated that month. Four hundred and eighty health kits were assembled from Ridgely Middle and are making their way to New Orleans to help needy people.

Ridgely Middle students, faculty, parents, and supporters have displayed remarkable compassion and that they have good hearts willing to serve others.

Stemmers Run Middle

In just over three days, students in the Behavioral Education System Team (BEST) program at Stemmers Run collected more than $500 in spare change from their classmates. To promote their fundraising campaign, students have created and hung posters, made morning announcements, and collected money during their lunch periods.

Victory Villa Elementary

The students at Victory Villa have taken a personal interest in helping victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Students have sacrificed to help those who have lost everything. Antonio S., a fifth grader, gave the money he received as birthday gifts. Another student, Brooke K., gave money she was saving for a gift for her mom. Other students emptied out their piggy banks. The first grade classes decided to have a contest. The teacher of the class who gave the least would have to kiss a frog. Mrs. Wachter was relieved when she discovered that her class had collected $80, far surpassing Mrs. Staabs' class, which gave $30.27. To date, students and faculty have collected over $1,800 for the relief efforts.

Westchester Elementary

Westchester Elementary has adopted Gorenflo Elementary in Biloxi, Mississippi. Gorenflo received more than six feet of water in its building, destroying everything inside. Eighteen staff members and dozens of students lost their homes as well. Westchester students collected more than 40 boxes of school supplies to send to their friends at Gorenflo. In addition, Westchester teachers put together supply baskets for the teachers of Gorenflo. Students have also collected spare change. Students and staff, along with the PTA, are planning a book drive to continue their fundraising efforts. Westchester plans to make this a year-long project to support its adopted school.

Woodlawn Middle

Students at Woodlawn Middle contributed $645 to the TABCO-KidCare Fund. Parents, staff, and vendors also made contributions during Back-to-School Night. Students learned about the effects of hurricanes during their social studies classes and made donations during that time. In addition, sixth grade students shared their knowledge of Hurricane Katrina with their family members by creating a brochure on hurricanes.

Please revisit this article in coming days for updates and additional information.
( last updated 10/19/05 )

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Story includes contributions from: Michael Barton, School Counselor, Chesapeake Terrace Elementary; Susan Carson, School Counselor, Deer Park Elementary; Estella Chambers, Library Media Specialist, Woodlawn Middle; Jennifer M. Conigilio, Ph.D., NCSP, School Psychologist, Johnnycake Elementary; Jill Cox, English and Social Studies Teacher and SGA Co-Advisor, Ridgely Middle; Debbie Ford, Administrative Secretary III, Harford Hills Elementary; Amy Hansen, School Counselor, Deep Creek Elementary; Briget Koch, English Teacher and Good News Ambassador, Dumbarton Middle; Allyson Leven, School Counselor and Good News Ambassador, Battle Grove Elementary; April Marsalek, ESOL Teacher, Pleasant Plains Elementary; Adele Merti, Library Media Specialist, Hereford Middle; Ellen Montoya, Mentor, General John Stricker Middle; Anne Puckett, Vocal Music Teacher, Westchester Elementary; Kimberly Ruark, Technology Education, Perry Hall Middle; Dawn E. Rutter-Hoffmaster, Vocal Music Teacher, Victory Villa Elementary; Linda Stevenson, Library Media Specialist, Relay Elementary; Patricia Thal, Administrative Secretary III, Gunpowder Elementary; Tanganyika Whitaker, School Counselor, Woodlawn Middle; and Natasha D. White, Guidance Department Chair, Deer Park Middle; Michelle Wozar, Counselor, Edgemere Elementary. Edited by Diana L. Spencer, Communications Officer