Clark Elementary fifth graders Waylon Stoerner, Major James, Anna Flores and Idaylia Larkin held a skype session with Delaney Posehn, (pictured on screen), a fifth grader from New Jersey who took up a collection for school supplies for Clark students.

Clark Students Skype New Jersey Student Who Raised Money for School Supplies

 

By Beth Dombrowa

 

Hurricane Harvey flood victims in the Houston area pulled at the heart of a fifth-grade girl watching from more than 1,500 miles away. Unable to comprehend how much they had lost, Delaney Posehn turned from the television news story and told her mother, Michele, that she wanted to do something to help. On Friday, four fifth-grade students from Johnny Tee Clark Elementary thanked Delaney via a Skype session, on behalf of the entire student body, for the fundraiser she held to support students at the school.

Michele, an Aramark employee in New Jersey, was able to use her work connections to get hold of colleagues in the Houston area. They informed her that Clark was a Goose Creek CISD campus that was particularly hard hit, and the wheels were set into motion. Principal Kay Cruz said that what students at the campus could use were school supplies, particularly composition books for journaling and ear buds to decrease distractions while working in iPads or computers. Delaney made a video and flyers to promote the project and ask for donations.

Every person that donated received a sun catcher, handmade by Delaney, with a sweet “thank you” message that read, “An act of kindness is like a circle – it never ends. You have helped to show kids in Baytown, Texas, that the sun always shines, even in the darkest of times.”

Delaney’s fundraiser brought in more than $1,000, which was spent on enough composition books for every student on the campus. Cruz said she would be sending the books home over the Christmas holidays for students to practice journaling, which raised a few eyebrows among the students participating in the Skype session.

Expressing their thanks to Delaney over Skype were Clark Elementary fifth graders Idaylia Larkin, Anna Flores, Major James and Waylon Stoerner, all of whose homes flooded during Harvey. Thirteen Clark staff members also have been unable to return home as of yet due to flood damage.

“Delaney has a really big heart,” Michele said. “Hopefully, this inspires other students to pay it forward.”