Many hands work together

Schoolchildren learn meaning of ‘character education’, By John Church Ogdensburg — Like single drops of water coming together to form a river, coins are coming together in the Ogdensburg School. The funds collected will be sent to help the children and families in Haiti affected by the recent earthquake and aftershocks. Helping Hands for Haiti is an offshoot of the Character Education Program taught at the school. “One of the character traits in the program is empathy,” said Nicole Musarra, assistant principal. “Helping Hands for Haiti gives the students a sense of helping at a distance.” A collection tin is in every classroom and spare change will be collected through February. The primary grades (first through fourth) decorated the tins with cutouts of their hands that they traced on construction paper. Even the youngest students can point to the cans and say they are part of the charity event. “It gives the students ownership; they all have a part, a common symbol” said Musarra. The primary grades will collect the cans and students in the higher grades will count the money. The event also demonstrates the power of numbers. Small numbers of coins, or people, coming together to do great things, explained Musarra. “We looked at a variety of organizations. The funds wills be sent to Partners in Health, a non-profit corporation based in Boston,” said Musarra. “Ninety-four percent of the money goes to people in need.” The remaining 6 percent is for administration and fundraising. Mike Ryder, who teaches social studies to the upper grades at Ogdensburg, is planning to put together a multimedia presentation to show at the February Character Education Program assembly for the students. While still under development he says it will include images of Haiti before and after the earthquake.