[StBernard] Meadowbrook makes an impact on New Orleans

[Westley Annis]

Meadowbrook makes an impact on New Orleans 

Fourth-graders donate 1,200 books to school affected by Katrina 

By Malavika Jagannathan 
mjaganna at greenbaypressgazette.com 


HOWARD - For fourth-graders at Meadowbrook Elementary School the idea of
losing their school and library in a flood is a nightmarish scenario. 


But it was a situation many had to imagine as they embarked on a project to
collect and send books to a school in New Orleans as part of a social
studies unit on civic action. 


"They lost all their books and everything," said Carmen Radeke, one of the
students in the class who collected about 1,200 books that were sent to Our
Lady of Prompt Succor in Chalmette, La., a private Catholic school ravaged
by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 


Dividing into four committees, the class sought contributions from other
classes in the school, charted their progress and marketed their cause with
posters, announcements on the loudspeaker and good-old fashioned recruiting.



"We involved the school - it took us a month to get everything ready,"
explained John Clemens. 


The project serves not only as a practical example of civic action but helps
the students understand their reach of influence, said fourth-grade teacher
Lois Appel. 


"Social studies, especially government, can be tough to get kids excited
about," Appel said. "It's a topic they have the least first-hand experience
in." 


Last fall, Appel got a group of her students to collect more than 600 cans
of food to donate to Paul's Pantry, which was running low on supplies at the
time. Not wanting to repeat the exercise, she looked in a new direction and
after a colleague mentioned knowing a school in New Orleans that needed
books, it came to fruition. 


"It was practical. Right after Christmas, everyone's looking to clean out
shelves," Appel said. The donations - mostly new or gently used - ranged
from favorite comics to outgrown classics. 


Once the books were collected, ABF U-Pack Moving donated the ride for the
books, loading them up in a truck on Thursday afternoon as the
fourth-graders looked on. 


In three to four business days, the books will arrive in Chalmette, branch
manager Chris Cook said. 


For the students at Our Lady of Prompt Succor, the books will add to the
school's limited library. Without a lot of government funding, private
schools in the New Orleans area have struggled to recover from the
hurricane's damage. 


"We started with absolutely nothing," said Laurian Barthe, a fourth-grade
teacher at the school. "Adding to the books in our library will be a
wonderful asset to go a long way." 


When classes resumed last August at the school, they were held in the gym
with divider walls erected from wooden boards. Textbooks were only made
available in November - other materials were even harder to come by, Barthe
said. 


Knowing that they've helped is a big deal to the students at Meadowbrook, a
lesson many of them say they'll continue to use in life. 


"I learned that the government doesn't always have to do the work," said
Hunter Pirlott. "Even kids can help out."