Worcester Prep group aims to raise $15,000
Dec. 10, 2013
Members of Students CAN include, from left, Daniel Rosa, Claire Stickler, Lucas Baier, Chris Klug, Alissa Talbert and Razaak Eniola. The group of Worcester Preparatory School students is raising money to improve a school in Cambodia. / Staff photo by Charlene Sharpe
BERLIN — When students at Worcester Preparatory School decided they wanted to do something to benefit the community, they weren’t thinking of their school community or even the Eastern Shore community.
They were thinking of the global community. Led by Worcester Preparatory School senior Claire Stickler, a group of students at the private school have formed Students Change A Nation, or Students CAN. They are raising money to improve a school in Cambodia.
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Visit www.students-can.org or contact studentschangeanation@gmail.com
“We decided to adopt a school,” Stickler said. “That benefits their learning the most.”
After reading “Half the Sky,” a book detailing the struggles of women throughout the world, Stickler was motivated to pursue a humanitarian project this spring. She quickly convinced a group of friends to help her.
“I don’t think any of us doubted the idea, it was just how to get there,” said Alissa Talbert, a member of Students CAN.
The students thought long and hard about what sort of project they wanted to do and what would have the most impact. Student Razaak Eniola said that while there was plenty of need within the United States, group members thought that focusing on a place such as Cambodia would enable the money they raised to go farther. Fellow senior Lucas Baier agreed.
“We knew as kids we wouldn’t be able to raise a lot of money,” Baier said.
Choosing to do a project in Cambodia will also help increase awareness, the students believe.
“Helping another country does help the United States,” Eniola said, “and it’s important to establish those cultural ties.”
And so, working with World Assistance for Cambodia, the students have adopted St. Paul’s School of Hope. Their goal is to raise $15,000 to fund a teacher, Internet access, solar panels and a computer for the school, which at this time does not even have electricity.
While they considered using their money to build an addition to the school, they decided in the end that technology would mean more to the Cambodian students.
Through fundraisers at local restaurants, bake sales and installing donation jars in area businesses, the students have raised more than $8,000 since they began collecting donations in June. They’d like to reach their goal by the time they graduate, but plan to enlist younger students to continue the cause if need be.
“We hope they’ll carry the torch,” Baier said.
He and the other members of Students CAN are optimistic though that they’ll be able to reach their goal during the next six months. They’ve created a website and Facebook page to spread awareness of their cause. With $8,000 in the bank now, Stickler said she was able to send a check to World Assistance for Cambodia to get the school improvements started. She said the first step would be purchasing and installing the solar panels.
The students are hoping that once the school has some electricity and Internet access, they’ll be able to use Skype to communicate with Cambodian students. They’re looking forward to interacting with high school students from a very different part of the world.
“This will establish a connection between their school and ours,” Eniola said.
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