Local students ‘band’ together

Crossroads North students continue to raise money to help their adopted sister school in Louisiana, which was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

By: Chinenye Okparanta
   Not too long ago, a war took place at Crossroads North.
   It was the penny war, and it was just one of the middle school’s fundraising projects designed to raise money for its adopted sister school in Louisiana.
   D’Iberville Middle School was one of the schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina in late August. The school was forced to close and students have since been assigned to afternoon classes at the elementary and high school, both of which were less affected by the storm.
   During the first and second weeks of September, each of Crossroads North’s eight units deposited coins into giant water jugs. Each penny was assigned a positive value and every other coin denomination was negative.
   If one unit had 100 pennies and then someone put in a quarter, that would mean they actually had 75 pennies, Principal Judith Black said.
   The goal of the war was to try to put a lot of negative or silver coins into the other groups’ jug and force more pennies to be donated. The penny wars raised $2,000 for D’Iberville Middle School students, Ms. Black said.
   As part of Crossroads North ongoing fundraising efforts, the Student Council has organized other projects.
   "One unit collected backpacks and filled them with supplies that the D’Iberville students might need," Ms. Black said. "The students put personal notes inside the backpacks."
   Forty backpacks were collected and given to South Brunswick’s hurricane relief organization, Rallies for Relief, to be sent down to D’Iberville.
   In addition, approximately $1,200 in proceeds from the Student Council’s first dance of the year were donated to D’Iberville Middle School.
   The Student Council’s next project will be a sale of LiveStrong-style wristbands, which will take place a little later in the year, Ms. Black said.
   Students at Crossroads North will buy wrist bracelets and the proceeds from the sales will be donated to the D’Iberville school.
   "The colors of both schools are the same, so Crossroads students will purchase a pair of bracelets, one gold and one black," Ms. Black said. "One bracelet will say Crossroads or Vikings and one bracelet will say D’Iberville or Warriors."
   Students will keep the D’Iberville bracelets and send the Crossroads bracelets to students at D’Iberville Middle School.
   "We’re trying to get a class roster from the school so we can send bracelets to specific students along with letters of encouragement," Ms. Black said.
   Ms. Black said that the goal of the fundraiser would be to have every child wear a bracelet and support the cause.
   "It’s not just financial support, but emotional support that our students will provide," she said. "South Brunswick students know that they are blessed and when they have the chance to help others they rise to the occasion."