For the past nine years, the sixth grade class at Minnetonka Middle School East (MME) has been committed to supporting Haiti Outreach. This connection began in 2010, when a teacher visited Haiti and was inspired to share what she learned with her students. On May 17th, MME hosted their 9th Annual Water Walk! We had a chance to speak with Sophie Ray who was one of the original sixth graders to organize the Water Walk back in 2010.
“Mrs. Fenwick went to Haiti while I was in her sixth grade History class, and then she came back and got all the sixth graders excited about Haiti Outreach. All the sixth graders were really inspired to do something, and so we had this idea of starting a water walk. Mrs. Fenwick worked really hard with the sixth graders and the school faculty to get it started. Back then it was more of an actual walk, but since then the sixth graders have kind of turned it into a carnival. The first year there was only a lemonade stand, but now almost everyone is selling stuff which is really cool to see that the sixth graders have put their own spin on it.”
Sophie (pictured bottom right) is now a Junior at the University of Minnesota. She still comes back every year to support the sixth graders with their Water Walk for Haiti Outreach. She told us that her connection to Haiti Outreach has had a strong impact on her life, which is why she returns each year. Thank you, Sophie, for being a Clean Water Champion!
This year the current sixth graders at MME were especially creative about how they wanted to contribute to clean water in Haiti! From snow cones to cake pops to photo booths with farm animals, these sixth graders were really thinking outside the box! We had the chance to speak with two sixth graders, Aurelia (left) and Cariba (right), who decided to raise money by selling ice cream.
With great enthusiasm, Aurelia told us, “We are doing an ice cream stand because we feel like it’s really necessary for people to have clean water, because they need it to survive.”
Echoing her friend, Cariba added, “We decided to do an ice cream stand because we thought it was really important to learn about what our social studies teacher told us. Haiti Outreach’s mission is to give clean water to everyone, and today we are raising money to build a well in Lori, Haiti.”
These incredible sixth graders are examples of what it means to be a Clean Water Champion! Over the past 9 years, the students at Minnetonka Middle School East have raised over $100,000 for Haiti Outreach, and given over 2,000 people access to clean water in rural Haiti!
