Kids helping kids
Karen Lauritzen’s fourth grade class conducted a "water walk" June 6 after students learned about the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. They raised money to help students in South Sudan gain access to clean water and sanitation. They also made blankets to go to kids in need through Project Linus.
Courtesy photo
Treaty Rock students and teachers raised more than $925 in pledges June 6 after they conducted a "water walk" to benefit the nonprofit H2O for Life to provide water, sanitation and hygiene education for a partner school in South Sudan’s Bahr el Ghazal region.
Students in Karen Lauritzen’s fourth grade class at Treaty Rock Elementary School in Post Falls spent the last few weeks of the school year making colorful fringed blankets for Project Linus.
The nonprofit Project Linus collects new, handmade blankets for children who have gone through trauma or experienced natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes or fires or are otherwise in need of a cozy comfort.
Lauritzen’s class learned about the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which motivated the students to want to help others. The blanket project was made possible through donations from a local business, Silver Ridge Construction, a local Moms Demand Action chapter and parent support.
“It is meaningful to me because I know I am doing a good deed," Treaty Rock fourth grader Paisley Roberts said. "I know a kid out there will appreciate what I have done for them.”
Helping others made many students feel a sense of pride. Many found the project to be enjoyable and rewarding.
“This is important to me because when I help, I feel like a better person,” fourth grader Avelyn Zabel said.
In addition to the Project Linus project, the class also led a Walk for Water in collaboration with other fourth and fifth grade classes. Students asked friends and family members to pledge money and sponsor the walk. Each teacher and student walked over a mile carrying a gallon of water to symbolize the burden that women and children in developing nations bear on a daily basis.
The students also received a post-walk ice cream treat courtesy of the Coeur d’Alene Sons of Norway Harald Haarfager Lodge 2-011. Treaty Rock students and teachers raised more than $925 in pledges. The money will help the nonprofit H2O for Life to provide water, sanitation and hygiene education for a partner school in South Sudan’s Bahr el Ghazal region.
