[StBernard] (no subject)

[Westley Annis]

Look South to Louisiana
CHRISTIE DUMLER
March 15, 2007
The spirit of Louisiana, by way of an 8th grade service learning project,
has invaded classrooms at Dunloggin Middle School (DMS), offering  students
the opportunity to help their peers in Chalmette, Louisiana who are still
recovering from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina a year and half
ago. 


"Louisiana, One Year Later," the name of the 8th grade project, is
coordinated by DMS 8th grade reading teacher Denise Fader, who is being
assisted by Robert Strauss, a middle school teacher in Chalmette. Strauss
taught last year at DMS after being temporarily relocated to Ellicott City
because of the hurricane. 


 One of the first things Fader and Strauss did was set up pen pals for the
DMS and Chalmette 8th graders. "We are trying to look at how it (service
learning) will become real to the kids," said Fader. 


Students quickly learned after reading letters from their peers in
Chalmette, explained Fader, that most of the services and businesses were
gone.  They learned first hand about the living conditions from kids their
own age who have been struggling under difficult conditions since Katrina
devastated their hometown.  



Eighth grader, Andy Vorel received a four-page letter.  "She said that her
house was wrecked and that she lives in a FEMA trailer," said Andy.  "She
said that there was not much to do.  That everything was destroyed."    Some
of her friends didn't come back home," said Andy.  "Those that didn't have
an X on the door,"  he said. 


"My pen pal wrote that the only place open was a McDonalds," said DMS 8th
grader, MacKenzie Burnett. 


What really hit home with the DMS 8th graders was the loss of outlets for
recreation,  entertainment and shopping said Fader.   As a result, said
Strauss, "Kids love to come to school. It is the main source of
entertainment."  Classes for Chalmette eighth graders, explained Strauss in
a telephone interview, are held in trailers on the campus of Chalmette High
School.  The middle school was devastated by Katrina. 


One goal of service learning, according to Fader, is for students to involve
the community in the project.   "We don't have enough funds to build a
Starbucks," said Fader, "but students can ask Starbucks to rebuild," which
is why eighth graders will  be writing letters to corporate businesses
asking them to invest in Chalmette.  They have already made public awareness
posters of the needs of the Chalmette students which they plan to display at
DMS and around the  community.  DMS art teacher,  Matt Blanch will choose
one poster to be framed and sent to Chalmette school as a gift from DMS. 


 The major fundraiser of the project is a sports drive to benefit students
at  Chalmette Middle.   DMS 8th graders are asking the school community to
bring in gently used equipment useful for any sport. 


'Deeds for Beads'



When word went out that to kick off the sports drive students could buy the
colorful beads of Mardi Gras with Dragon Dollars they earn for good behavior
the Dragon Dollars started pouring in.  The price for one strand:   two
Dragon Dollars.    "It was a hit," said Cher Jones, principal of DMS.
"Thousands of Dragon Dollars were turned in,"  she said.       Every student
in the school  donned beads on Fat Tuesday, some multiple strands. 


"All the kids liked participating in it," said DMS 8th grader Ryan Greene.
"Everyone knew what had happened to New Orleans," he said. 


Ryan was one of 27 DMS students who stayed after school on short notice to
organize the bead orders so that each student would get the exact number of
beads purchased.  



Altogether, 2,000 beads were purchased, 1,500 by 8th graders.   Play It
Again Sports, located on Route 40, has agreed to provide boxes to ship  the
donated sports equipment as well as help with the cost of shipping. 


To contribute to the DMS 8th grade service-learning project, "Louisiana, One
Year Later," contact Denise Fader at 410-313-2831. 


The Sports Day Fundraiser ends March 30 when students will box up equipment.