Students organize charity drive

The Falcon Leadership and Character Class, a class for eighth-grade students at South Amherst Middle School, in the Firelands Local School District, has organized charitable drives and focused on ways to improve the lives of those around them this semester.

“We organized a collection of clothes for those in need,” said Isabella Simmons, 14, and eighth-grader. “The drive focused on helping those in our own school and throughout the community with the help of Genesis House.”

Isabella said the drive brought in a good variety of clothes.

“We were able to collect hats, coats, shirts, pants and other items,” she said. “We also had a good amount of clothes for boys and girls.

“The students here generously donated over 100 articles of clothing. We then gave the clothes to the guidance counselor and the remainder will go to the Genesis House.”

Olivia Hammond, 14, said the clothing collection was fun.

“I like to put the community first,” Olivia said. “A lot of people don’t have what we do, and it’s nice to help them out.”

Jacob Halliwell, 13, said he helped organize a collection in honor of Firelands alumnus U.S. Army Staff Sgt. James Hunter, who died in 2010 while serving in Afghanistan. “We started a collection to collect hygiene products, food and entertainment for his (Hunter’s) former unit,” Jacob said. “People brought in a good amount of items that will go to the unit, which is now stationed in Africa.

“We put up a ton of signs to spread the word about the collection, and it went very well.”

Lydia Dougan, 13, said the drive received more items for the Hunter collection than they originally thought.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” Lydia said. “The amount we ended up getting, which was 2,558 items, was way more than we thought. It shows how generous Firelands is.”

Amber Orlandi, 13, organized teacher appreciation cards.

“The idea was to show teachers how much they mean to us,” Amber said. “We wouldn’t be able to achieve what we do without them.

“So these cards tell them how important they are to us. It was a fun process making and distributing the cards. The teachers enjoyed them.”

Jordan Kolarik, teacher of the class, said the students have done a phenomenal job with the drive.

“A lot of this is studentled, and they do a great job of organizing these collections,” Kolarik said. “This class focuses on leadership, public speaking and nurturing a love for service. These guys have already shown a great passion for service.”

“A lot of this is student-led, and they do a great job of organizing these collections. This class focuses on leadership, public speaking and nurturing a love for service. These guys have already shown a great passion for service.”

— Jordan Kolarik, teacher