LAWRENCE: LHS seniors want to build school in Ecuador

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Brick by brick, Jimmy Wolf and Shurman Riggins are determined to help build a new school in Ecuador.
   While they take it for granted they can go to school, that’s not true for millions of children worldwide — and that’s why the two Lawrence High School seniors are raising money to build a new one in Ecuador.
   Jimmy and Shurman hope to raise $2,000 by January, selling T-shirts and symbolic paper bricks to put on a cardboard house.
   Dubbed “Brick by Brick,” the campaign also is part of the seniors’ Lawrence High School DECA Chapter project.
   DECA is an international association of marketing students who learn about the skills and standards required in business. Every year, DECA students work on projects that are submitted to regional and state level competitions. Through these projects, they learn how to launch a business or marketing campaign.
   Jimmy and Shurman, who are the Lawrence High School DECA co-presidents, said they wanted to undertake a project that would be meaningful for them. They searched the DECA website and came across community service projects. Although the typical community service project targets an illness such as cancer, the seniors wanted to do something different.
   ”We were thinking and thinking and thinking. A lot of people choose campaigns on cancer, or (doing something in) Africa,” Shurman said. But neither he nor Jimmy wanted to take on that type of project, he said.
   That’s when Lawrence High School marketing teacher Diane Schneck, who is also the DECA chapter adviser, suggested helping to build a school. Jimmy and Shurman discovered the “Free the Children” website, which led them to the “Brick by Brick” campaign.
   ”We decided to (help) build a school in a place that is less fortunate. When you think of building a school, you think of Africa. A lot of people don’t think about sending money to Ecuador. They think it is a prosperous country,” Shurman said, adding that it is not a wealthy country.
   It costs about $8,500 to build a school, Jimmy said. The Free the Children organization will match the amount of money that they raise, he said, adding that the nonprofit group has other investors who will help out.
   ”We wanted to do something for someone else. Building a school is something we can relate to. We take it for granted, but there are so many children who don’t have a school. They don’t do anything. They sit at home,” Shurman said.
   Jimmy and Shurman agreed that while winning a trophy for the project at the state competition next spring would be nice, it’s really not about a trophy. It’s about feeling good about the project and knowing they have done something that will make an impact on children’s lives, they said.
   ”If you want something, you always have to go after it,” Jimmy said.