The Peters Township Source

When Tom Hajzus was first approached with the idea of all 130 World Cultures Honors students developing charitable fundraisers, the Peters Township High School principal was reluctant to sign off.

“We already had a lot of fundraisers and activities going on in the school,” he says, noting that he didn’t want an excess of activities to become a distraction throughout the building. But Hajzus slept on it for a few days until he was reminded by Jaylan Pinto and Brian King, the school’s two honors world cultures teachers, that he always encouraged students to take risks.

Looking back, the principal realizes he made the right decision.

Through group and individual efforts, Pinto and King’s students raised $48,000 in cash and donated goods. Elana Lages and Sarah Leech managed to raise the bulk of that themselves, when residents donated $40,000 in apparel as part of a clothing drive for the St. Vincent De Paul Society. Joe Grippi and Evan McIntyre raised $900 in cash for Save the Children.

“It exceeds all my expectations in terms of the overall quality and the ingenuity the kids brought to their projects,” Hajzus says. “This is a good example of how we hire quality teachers.”

The effort began early in the 2007-2008 school year, when Pinto dreamed up what she called “The Mahatma Project,” named after the Indian leader who famously said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” She wanted the World Cultures Honors students to not only identify a cause they support, but to actually work to help it meet its objectives.

The students spent the fall months selecting and planning their projects and, by the spring, they were raising money and goods for scores of worthy causes. Lages and Leech, for example, rounded up 20 student volunteers to help out with their clothing drive, while Grippi and McIntyre raised additional money by sending people to http://whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com, a site that donates money each time a visitor views a charity’s promotional video.

“There were a lot of surprises in terms of creativity,” Pinto says. “One student raised money by organizing a pie-throwing contest in which teachers were the targets.”

While the projects entailed a good bit of effort, when it was over, none would call it work at all. “At first, I thought it would be a big tedious task that I wouldn’t want to do,” says Grippi, “but I didn’t realize that people would be so generous and helpful.”

Mahatma Project Winners

Greatest Collection Effort
1st Bundle Sunday- Elana Lages, Sarah Leech
2nd Save the Children- Evan McIntyre, Joe Grippi
3rd Love Drive-Carly Ellis, Emily Matthis, Katy Sharman, Andrea Zuloga

Best Promotion Effort
1st Green Eggs and Ham- John Wawrose, Kyle Sheth
2nd Green Team- Melissa Jarrett, Carly Marnik 3rd-PT Hekima Place- Ben Pritz, Justin Gabb

Most Ingenuity and Inventiveness
1st Pie in the Eye-Beth Herder, Claire LaRosa
2nd (tie)-Nothing but Nets-Erika Jozwiak, Khyati Thakore, Amanda Swick
2nd (tie)-Aid to Aids-Taylor Maher, Kevin McBride, Tad Piscatelli
3rd Ma 'hat' ma- Erica Schwotzer, Andrea Briggs

Best Overall Individual
1st Small Beginnings-Bryanna Baehr
2nd Uniting the World-Trisha Ambe
3rd (tie)-Night out for Aids-Anni Keffer 3rd (tie)-Project Ninos- Evan Komoroski

Best Overall Group
1st Save the Children-Evan McIntyre, Joe Grippi
2nd Bundle Sunday- Elena Lages, Sarah Leech
3rd Banding Together-Shannon Dunn, Ann Ultsch, Molly Wagner