Students collect half-ton of school supplies
Twenty students collected unused classroom materials for two Alum Rock schools with underserved students
To help San Jose’s underprivileged youth start the school year off on the right foot, students at Basis Independent Silicon Valley School in the Rose Garden area spent the summer raising supplies and donations. About 20 students of all ages at the 5-12 grade private school pulled together and collected unused school supplies and several hundred dollars cash, resulting in a half-ton of classroom materials. The supplies are being given to kids at both Cesar Chavez Elementary School and Lee Mathson Middle School in Alum Rock.
“We’re all very fortunate to attend Basis because the teachers are very invested in the students and there’s a lot of resources,” Dennis Woo, a junior who organized the fundraiser, said in an interview. “One of the ideas I had when doing this was that we could give back to a community less fortunate than us.”
“It’s not a project required for the school,” he added. “We’re not doing this to impress other people.”
The supply drive idea was sparked when Dennis began following news reports about Alum Rock parents outraged at the school board for reasons ranging from inadequate heating and cooling in classrooms to a state audit that revealed the district’s vulnerability to fraud and financial mismanagement.
“When I was reading stories, some focused on how the children and students were doing,” Dennis said. “I noticed how underserviced they were.”
Dennis reached out to his fellow students for help; at first he had nine volunteers but that quickly grew to about 20 people. Some posted on NextDoor seeking donations from neighbors and collected and delivered materials to the two campuses this last weekend. Others helped with a recent book exchange, where the proceeds from there and a GoFundMe campaign page also raised a combined $430 used to buy more items.
Junior Ishani Sikdar said that the drive was a good way for her to give back to the community.
“It was good to know I was helping with getting materials to people where it would’ve been harder for them to get,” Ishani said. “It’s nice to know that maybe I helped remove a strain off another family.”
Seventh-grader Ryan Hung helped with the supply drive “just for the sake of helping” and so other kids could feel more enthusiastic about starting the new school year. Ryan will often “feel kind of excited” about getting new back-to-school items and “wanted other people to feel that way.”
“I decided to help out just for the sake of helping others,” Ryan explained. “I wanted to give the opportunity to have the things I did and needed to learn.”
Chavez and Mathson students are now being loaded up with crayons, markers, highlighters, pens and glue sticks, according to Dennis. Supplies are still being accepted, he said, but more paper is always wanted even if it’s their most common item collected.
“We have a ton of paper because that’s just generally useful in school,” he said. “Anything works but paper is always useful because the teachers can use paper for a ton of things” including printing out assignment sheets and even origami.
The students will deliver more supplies to Mathson Middle School on Sunday at 8 a.m. To donate to the school supply drive, visit gofundme.com/BASISsuppliesdrive.