Sixth graders at Old Hammondtown School have come up with a unique way of raising money for a cause – the result of learning about the precious commodity of water, both in Mattapoisett and in the rest of the world.
Funded by a $3,000 grant provided by the Marion League of Women Voters, sixth grade students have been busy with a curriculum designed to raise awareness of global society’s growing shortage of water and how access to clean water is essential to life.
Assistant Superintendent Elise Frangos introduced Social Science teacher Sara Jacobson to the Mattapoisett School Committee on April 13, accompanied by an entire sixth grade class of students making a presentation that led up to a request to hold a fundraiser so they could fund the construction of a water well in East Africa.
The students learned about water conservation and management and how some villagers live without a nearby source of clean water, said Jacobson.
“The kids started to notice connections” between Mattapoisett water concerns and regions of Africa, said Jacobson. “So the project took on a life of its own.… The kids were very, very taken by the stories from East Africa, especially how education is impacted by a lack of water in Africa.”
The students lined up, each having their turn to endorse their fundraising idea of selling personally-designed stainless steel water bottles to raise $1,000, which is enough to fund the construction of a water well in an African village.
“We don’t know how important water is to us because we usually take it for granted,” said one student.
Other parts of the world aren’t so lucky, said another. One by one, the students drove their point home before a committee more than willing to support the effort.
“Did you wash your hands today? I hope so…” said one student. “Did you drink some water [today]?”
The students were concerned for other kids in villages where water is scarce, where people must walk miles every day to find drinking water, even keeping some girls and boys out of school in order to tend to the family’s needs for clean water.
The class will vote on the design for the bottles, and they hope to sell 100 of them at $10 each.
The committee approved the fundraiser without hesitation, and unanimously agreed they were proud of the students for their altruism.
Also during the meeting, there will not be any further school choice slots offered in Mattapoisett Public Schools next year after the committee voted 4-1 that class sizes were too much of a concern to invite more students from other districts.
School Committee member James Muse maintained that the benefits of the school choice program outweighed the negatives that Chairman James Higgins emphasized in his speech to the committee against school choice.
Higgins said factors such as special needs students coming into the district and taking resources away from Mattapoisett students were a concern, while Muse argued that adding two additional students would not be a burden to the staff and the program offers diversity among the student body.
The committee had been hoping to add an additional kindergarten teacher to allow for four smaller classes, but the Finance Committee and town administrator denied the request in the Fiscal Year 2016 draft budget, leaving little room for additional students. Muse suggested adding two slots to the first grade instead of kindergarten.
School Committee member Patrick LeClair suggested taking a year off from offering new slots to “take a breather” and assess the school resources for next year.
Also during the meeting, the committee approved the final FY16 budget totaling $6,385,751 – up 2.9 percent from FY15.
The committee also approved the new library/media curriculum as presented by the librarians at Center School and Old Hammondtown School.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett School Committee is scheduled for May 18 at 7:00 pm at Center School.
By Jean Perry
