Students host week-long fundraiser based on class lesson
ISHPEMING — Students at Ishpeming Middle School are raising money to benefit a Sudanese village they learned about in class.
Teachers Heather Swanson and Jennifer Klipp co-taught a lesson about the Sudanese War. As part of the lesson, the students read a book called “A Long Walk to Water,” which follows the life of a young woman who walks eight hours every day to provide clean water to her family.
The novel inspired both teachers and the students, so they put together a service learning project with an organization called “Water for Sudan.”
“We are selling hot chocolate and donuts to donate to a non-profit organization that builds wells in Southern Sudan and we’re doing that so they can get water,” said 6th grade student Alex Arvon.
“They need clean water because if they drink the dirty one, they could get sick,” said Hayden Hares, another 6th grade student. “Now that they’ll have clean water, they’ll be able to stay healthier.”
The students took time out of each day this week to sell treats, like candy canes and cookies, to students and staff to raise money to build wells in Sudan. The school and the community were both extremely responsive to the fundraising efforts.
“We were grateful that Northwestern Mutual of Marquette offered to do a match and we have a lot of community members here in Ishpeming that are super generous. Lots of organizations came forward. This is a great community to raise money in,” said Klipp.
Klipp said she has no doubt that the students hit their one thousand dollar fundraising goal.