Minnetonka Middle School East’s Haiti Water Walk
Minnetonka Middle School East 6th Graders Raise Over $13,000 for Wells in Haiti!
Pictured Top Left: 6th grade students with organizing teacher Mary Fenwick at Minnetonka Middle School East’s Haiti Water Walk, Pictured Bottom Right: Hand-made “Walk 4 Haiti” t-shirt as students take laps around school for pledges.
MME’s sixth grade teacher Mary Fenwick traveled to Haiti in February of 2011 with Haiti Outreach and kept her students informed the whole week with her blog. When she returned, both she and her classes were fired up to raise money for a well in Haiti. A community well on the mainland can cost as much as $8,000 – a huge amount to raise for sixth graders. Or so it seemed. They all got excited and came up with many creative ideas. The main idea was to walk or run around the school, about 1 mile, and get pledges for the number of laps they would make. But that was not all. They also made items to sell, made or bought some food and drinks, and created some games to play. The school administration agreed to let the entire 6th grade do this for a few hours on Friday, May 6. The students went to their parents, relatives and friends and received many pledges. The parent volunteers and the entire 6th grade came outside that day to have their walk and fair. Mother Nature cooperated also, as it was a beautiful spring day.
In the end, they surprised EVERYONE with the presentation of over $13,000 that they raised! They presented the money to Haiti Outreach at our annual spring luncheon and fundraiser on May 11. It brought a tear to the eyes of many in the audience when she made the announcement of what they had accomplished – raising enough money for a community well and more than half the cost of a second well!
Check out this official school video of the event and also these photos.
We are so grateful and impressed by these students! They are so energized by their accomplishment that they tell us they will do something similar again next year. Thank you to Mary, the other teachers, administration, parent volunteers, and especially the students for showing us how they can make an incredible difference and have fun while doing so!
