Zeke MacCormack
Express-News (San Antonio, Texas, USA)
BOERNE — Looking beyond their own wants to others' needs, Boerne High School students poured pennies out Friday to kick off an initiative aimed at building a school in Cambodia.
The pep rally penny drive generated $680 toward the goal of raising $13,000 by next spring.
That's the amount needed to build a simple rural school in the underdeveloped Asian country, according to American Assistance for Cambodia.
"We like creative, innovative projects that help bring our community together and promote good will," Boerne High Principal Betty Butler said.
Since 1999, the independent nonprofit organization has overseen construction of more than 300 schools in rural areas of Cambodia, according to its Web site, cambodiaschools.com.
The schools are among aid initiatives by the organization, founded in 1993 by American Bernie Krisher, former head of the Newsweek and Fortune Tokyo bureaus.
Local students joined the effort after seeing news accounts of a drive by Overlake School in Redmond, Wash.
"It's made us aware of the great need there is in the world, the importance of education in developing countries, and it's given us an opportunity to learn about Cambodia and the genocide there," said Francisco Grijalva, headmaster at Overlake.
Overlake students last spring visited the school they funded in Pailin, he said, and a teacher from there is soon coming to visit.
Boerne High School's National Honor Society chapter got the local ball rolling, donating $2,000 it had banked from a car wash.
"It's a really unique and amazing opportunity to be able to bring Boerne High School and the Boerne community together," said Jacob Knettel, a senior who leads a committee created in August to lead the fundraising drive dubbed "Purple Out Cambodia" — referring to the school colors.
Beside soliciting funds from local businesses, the project will get proceeds from the Nov. 2 Fall Fest, an annual lunch-hour event with games and food sales that normally benefits clubs.
"A lot of the clubs used the funds to go on trips and make T-shirts and to pay for their activities," Knettel said. "Now instead, all of Boerne High School is joining together to help others."
The curriculum at Boerne High also is being shifted to focus more on Cambodia to give students a better understanding of the beneficiaries of the aid.
Students plan to continue raising funds next year for accessories such as a water well and Internet access at the campus that they will name and may someday visit.
Boerne teacher Catherine Davis said her students' faces "went blank" upon hearing that diverting cash from their clubs may provide Cambodian kids with their only real shot at a formal education.
"We hope they realize that not everyone is as blessed as (the students) are, and that they can use their blessings to help others," said Davis, one of three faculty advisers on the project. "It's not just them in the world, and the world needs help."
zeke@express-news.
The pep rally penny drive generated $680 toward the goal of raising $13,000 by next spring.
That's the amount needed to build a simple rural school in the underdeveloped Asian country, according to American Assistance for Cambodia.
"We like creative, innovative projects that help bring our community together and promote good will," Boerne High Principal Betty Butler said.
Since 1999, the independent nonprofit organization has overseen construction of more than 300 schools in rural areas of Cambodia, according to its Web site, cambodiaschools.com.
The schools are among aid initiatives by the organization, founded in 1993 by American Bernie Krisher, former head of the Newsweek and Fortune Tokyo bureaus.
Local students joined the effort after seeing news accounts of a drive by Overlake School in Redmond, Wash.
"It's made us aware of the great need there is in the world, the importance of education in developing countries, and it's given us an opportunity to learn about Cambodia and the genocide there," said Francisco Grijalva, headmaster at Overlake.
Overlake students last spring visited the school they funded in Pailin, he said, and a teacher from there is soon coming to visit.
Boerne High School's National Honor Society chapter got the local ball rolling, donating $2,000 it had banked from a car wash.
"It's a really unique and amazing opportunity to be able to bring Boerne High School and the Boerne community together," said Jacob Knettel, a senior who leads a committee created in August to lead the fundraising drive dubbed "Purple Out Cambodia" — referring to the school colors.
Beside soliciting funds from local businesses, the project will get proceeds from the Nov. 2 Fall Fest, an annual lunch-hour event with games and food sales that normally benefits clubs.
"A lot of the clubs used the funds to go on trips and make T-shirts and to pay for their activities," Knettel said. "Now instead, all of Boerne High School is joining together to help others."
The curriculum at Boerne High also is being shifted to focus more on Cambodia to give students a better understanding of the beneficiaries of the aid.
Students plan to continue raising funds next year for accessories such as a water well and Internet access at the campus that they will name and may someday visit.
Boerne teacher Catherine Davis said her students' faces "went blank" upon hearing that diverting cash from their clubs may provide Cambodian kids with their only real shot at a formal education.
"We hope they realize that not everyone is as blessed as (the students) are, and that they can use their blessings to help others," said Davis, one of three faculty advisers on the project. "It's not just them in the world, and the world needs help."
zeke@express-news.
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