Hub schools having students step up, reach out to hardest hit in Houston
Boston school officials are asking their students to take the lead in an effort to provide the 100 Houston schools most affected by Hurricane Harvey’s wrath with emotional support, lasting friendships and essential supplies.
“A school in another community needs our help,” Curley K-8 principal Katie Grassa said. “We want to make sure we are there for them in any way we can.”
Grassa said she reached out Friday to Elizabeth Castillo-Guajardo, the principal of Mitchell Elementary School in Houston, in the hopes of launching a letter-writing campaign with Curley kids and setting up a fundraiser later this fall.
Although Grassa said school staffers and parents have already offered ideas on how they can help — including sending cards or donating books — she wants her students to take an active role in the planning process.
“I know the students will have way better ideas than any of us adults, so we want our middle schoolers to take a leadership role in this and think about what they can do for someone else,” Grassa said. “This is crucial . ... We are trying to create really strong members of our community. If you can teach people how to care, they can be successful in anything.”
The partnership program is voluntary, and already more than two dozen schools have said they will pitch in, including the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Brighton.
“This is an amazing opportunity to step up and help our fellow students in Houston,” Horace Mann principal Maritza Ciliberto said, noting her school would pair up with a school for the deaf in Houston. “Many of our students are going to have many questions because of what they have seen on TV. Our teachers will be ready to give them a tool that they can do something about it, they can reach out and help other students.”
Ciliberto said she wants to set up a video conference to allow students to communicate with their Lone Star State peers using sign language.
“There will be friendships and relationships for our deaf and hard of hearing students in Houston, so they can feel that they are not alone,” Ciliberto said.
Boston Public Schools Superintendent Tommy Chang said he is close friends with Richard A. Carranza, his counterpart in the Houston Independent School District. Chang asked for a list of the 100 most-affected schools in the district of 215,000 students and has begun the process of pairing up Boston schools.
“It’s going to start with principals making phone calls to let the principals in Houston know they have a partner here in Boston who is here to support them,” Chang said. “We hope to expand the partnership in other ways.”