North Hunterdon Students Raise Money To Build Cambodia Schools

by Hunterdon County Democrat

Sunday May 17, 2009,

North Hunterdon High School students have raised about half the money needed to build a school in rural Cambodia.

Through the community service project Schools Building Schools, the English Department raised $6,066 for the American Assistance for Cambodia organization.

During spring recess in April, students were encouraged to read books, magazine and newspapers, and gather pledges for every minute of reading they did while out of school.
The 221 participating students read for 1,840 hours. Lauren Sheldon's period 5-6 class earned a bagel breakfast for raising the highest number of pledges.

All of the money raised goes to American Assistance's Rural Schools Project program, which has led to the construction of more than 300 primary and lower secondary schools -- with matching funds from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank -- in rural Cambodia. Each school is sponsored by a donor to provide improvements, such as English/computer teachers, Internet connections and access to clean water.

Information on the Rural Schools Project can be found at www.cambodiaschools.com/.