Whitesville Road Elementary 5th Grade
If you read the previous blog, you know that I am going to tell 4 stories of things that have happened behind the scenes here at All Things New recently, and today I want to tell you about an awesome 5th grade class at Whitesville Road Elementary School in LaGrange, GA. This class of 5th graders did a unit on Haitian history as part of their studies this year and as part of this unit they learned about the 2010 earthquake. If you remember this event or have read anything about it, then you know it was a history altering event for this country. There are some things that change the course of a country so much that it becomes a part of history immediately. Positive things like independence and slavery being abolished along with negative things like 9/11 or the holocaust are “immediate history” type events. When an earthquake hits a country with a population of 10 million and it kills (more than likely) over 250,000 people while leaving millions homeless…That event immediately becomes a part of that country’s history.
Many of us still remember that earthquake even as Americans because of the devastation. Some of us cried, some of us came down to help, many of us donated, and all of us were shocked that something like that could happen just a few thousand miles away from our home. For this 5th grade class, they learned about the earthquake and it broke their hearts, but they did not stop there. They realized that there were still people hurting and they decided that they needed to take action to help people that they did not even know. This is a rare trait in people in general, children specifically, and especially in 5th graders who are just learning to be young men and women. Their teacher (Heidi Jones) saw this trait and decided to help them act on it. They discussed a lot of different options and came up with an idea that everyone in the 5th grade could help with…A Walk-A-Thon. They also decided to give the proceeds to All Things New because my sister, Katie Willis, is an Assistant Principal there so there was a personal connection to a group of kids in Haiti that they could help. The kids were sponsored at $1 per lap and they went to work raising money for the kids at All Things New. With no large donors and every child doing their best to raise money, the results came in. On May 15 they did their walk and realized that they raised…
$2,063 for All Things New Orphanage
One of the 5th graders, Landen Gray, raised over $600 on his own and was the highest contributor for the event. We really just wanted to show our appreciation for this 5th grade class, their teacher Ms. Jones, and my sister Katie for putting on this event. To see kids step up like this is a wonderful thing and if any of our LaGrange supporters get a chance, please say thank you from ATN!