By Jim McGaw
PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth Middle School students took a stroll around the school Thursday and in doing so, helped victims of recent hurricanes that ravaged their homes.
The walk, in which all four grades from the 729-student school participated, was organized by Caroline Fletcher, an eighth-grade math teacher, with the help of administrators.
“I was watching everything going on and said, ‘The kids have to get involved," Ms. Fletcher said. “We talked to them about trying to help people in need — not just within our school community, our Portsmouth community or our Rhode Island community. There are so many easy things we can do to help people globally, and this is just one thing we can do.”
Ms. Fletcher said she thought back to when she was in high school, participating in walk-a-thons to raise money for various causes. She decided that would be an effective way to get students involved.
“At first we wanted to get the kids to get pledges, but we didn’t want to promote them going to houses of strangers, so we just asked for a dollar donation (per student’s family),” she said. “There was a lot of help with the leadership team and (Principal João) Arruda to fine-tune everything to make it so it was in the best format for the children. Without the leadership team and Mr. Arruda, it never would have come to fruition.”
Students took to the idea right away, Ms. Fletcher said.
“I was actually out collecting this morning and some kids turned in 10 dollars, 15 dollars, five dollars,” she said. “I have only 23 kids in my class, but they’ve donated $46. One little boy said, ‘My family’s already given $100, but we’re giving more.’”
Since there have been three separate major hurricanes recently (Harvey, Irma and Maria), she decided to donate the money to the American Red Cross for distribution to victims.
“We’ll let them decide,” she said.
As fifth- and seventh-graders gathered outside the school just before their walk — they would be followed by sixth- and eighth-graders — Mr. Arruda thanked Ms. Fletcher for organizing their fund-raiser.
“There is an important message behind this,” he told students. “We are not only walking but also providing relief to the hurricane victims.”