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YES Prep Southeast Students Rock Band for Haiti Fundraiser

January 24, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

YES Prep Southeast Students Playing Rock Band for Haiti Fundraiser My mission as a World Geography teacher is to make our students citizens of the world. After seeing their reaction to the catastrophe in Haiti, I couldn’t be more proud. They care. They want to do something about the injustice that they are seeing. They are an amazing group of kids, and I am a better citizen of the world because of them. For instance, one of my students, 9^th Grader Jessica Pungo, quipped, “We are all part of the world. Why not help our neighbors? Make the world a better place.”

We were horrified when we saw the news from Haiti: buildings collapsing, people’s lives destroyed, chaos everywhere. I often tell my students: If you don’t like something, you need to work to change it. Mahatma Gandhi reminds me daily in his world-famous quotation on my classroom wall, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” This sentiment seems to be pervasive among our students as well. Freshman Jafet Orellana stated, “When we arrived at YES, our faith was to work hard to help out the ones in need; our purpose at this school is Engage in Service, so we believe there is no limit to helping others.”

The 9^th graders decided to take the lead on raising money and doing their part to contribute to the people of Haiti. Although most of them admitted to YES prep teacher James Sheridan rocks out in support of Haiti fundraiser not knowing where Haiti was on a map a week ago, it seems now that Haiti is at the center of our consciousness. As freshman Veronica Martinez put it, “We, as a grade, believe that no human being should go through such misery as the people in Haiti are going through. If we all join in and help with whatever we can, we are helping and saving people’s lives. Let’s all join so that these people can back to their normal lives and end their pain.”

With an impressive commitment to this cause, as of Friday January 22^nd, in just four short days, the 9^th grade students and teachers have fundraised over $756.94 in cash and bottled water for Haiti. We are planning on contributing this money directly to a the charities of YELE.org and The Hope For Haiti’s Children Fund, a Sugar Land, Texas organization which supports nine schools and one orphanage, sponsoring close to 800 children. Through the help of DyMisha, we have secured a donor who will agree to match the highest amount raised by any YES Prep Southeast grade level, so every dollar we collect could really be doubled.

On Friday, January 22nd, the 9^th graders stayed after school for a Rock Band Fundraiser for Haiti where students enjoyed snacks and played video games while raising money for Haiti. The food was generously donated by teachers on the YES Prep Southeast 9^th grade team. We will continue to collect funds into next week to see if we can reach our goal of $1,000. Ninth grader Evelyn Torres mentioned, “The reason why we are raising money is not to get anything in return but to help people that really need it. We want to help people have somewhere to begin. It’s not much, but it came from our hearts.”

Bonnie Rhoden teaches 9th grade World Geography at YES Prep Southeast. Bonnie is a 2007 graduate of Baylor University on Waco, Texas where she studied Political Science and History. Bonnie is a 2007 Teach For America Houston Alumni.