Shepherdstown Elementary School in Mechanicsburg, PA decided to turn education into an opportunity to help last month. Shepherdstown Elementary is a neighborhood school with five 1st grade classes and five 2nd grade classes. The school hosted a "Multicultural Week" where each class picked a country to study and then shared their work with the entire school.
Mrs. Haag's 2nd grade class in front of their El Salvador muralRachel Dorsey, special education teacher at the school, suggested El Salvador as one of the areas of interest because her brother David McGee, and his wife Jenny, have been missionaries with ENLACE El Salvador for nearly seven years. Dorsey had also visited El Salvador on numerous occasions and was able to help decorate the classrooms with various memorabilia from the Central American country.
The teachers put up educational materials all around the school providing details about the country including murals, photos and powerpoint presentations. Second grade teacher, Jane Haag, came up with the idea of collecting donations for a school in El Salvador. By the end of the two-week focus, the school had collected hundreds of items including various school supplies as well as soccer balls, soap, toothbrushes and many more useful items.
Dorsey said, "The students were amazed to learn about life in El Salvador. Many of the students did not understand that life was different in other countries. This gave them an opportunity to learn and help out at the same time."
Kids at Liceo Cristiano school in Bonanza with some of the donations and letters from Shepherdstown studentsThe first shipment of the supplies was given to the Liceo Cristiano School in Bonanza, El Salvador this May. The students were extremely excited to know that a school in the United States had decided to connect with them in this way.
