EAST WINDSOR: Students rise to call of human rights

By Jen Samuel, Managing Editor
   EAST WINDSOR — Felicia Mode Alexander, a seventh-grade special education social studies teacher at Melvin H. Kreps Middle School, has inspired local children and teens to help people in need around the world.
   She founded the Hightstown High School O Ambassadors Club in 2008. Today, approximately 50 students are members.
   Tomorrow, Dec. 1, O Ambassadors will be promoting its cause, to help children around the globe, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Barnes & Noble MarketFair, 3535 Route 1 in West Windsor.
   When customers use the Bookfair ID No.10893642, a percentage of each sale will be donated to the O Ambassadors Club at Hightstown High. The ID can also be used when checking out online from Dec. 1 to Dec. 5.
   High school club members will be at Barnes & Noble to wrap gifts for customers on Saturday. Also, the teens will be reading in the children’s area of the bookstore, tentatively scheduled at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
   In addition, middle school students dressed in club T-shirts will be present to answer questions for the public about O Ambassadors.
   Last fall, Ms. Alexander formed the Melvin H. Kreps Junior O Ambassadors Club.
   ”We’ve got almost 80 kids in the middle school program,” Ms. Alexander told the Herald on Wednesday.
   ”It’s amazing,” she said, noting that two social studies teachers join her in advising the junior club, sixth-grade teacher Laura Ricicki and eighth-grade teacher Frances Lavelle.
   The high school and junior clubs raise funds for the parent organization of O Ambassadors called Free The Children. Recently featured on “60 Minutes” — Free The Children provides funding for clean water, famine relief and school construction in developing nations.
   Ms. Alexander said that HHS club members are seeking sponsors to complete service trips through Free The Children in Kenya or Ecuador to build schools.
   She said the students are dedicated to helping others throughout the world.
   ”They get social responsibility at a very young age,” Ms. Alexander said.
   Seniors Kelsey Jones and Stephanie Blitzer are co-presidents of the O Ambassadors Club at Hightstown High.
   ”I joined O Ambassadors my freshman year because I wanted to be a part of a club that was actively working to make a difference around the world,” Kelsey said.
   ”It is important to know that even as a teenager, you can invoke change and make a difference.”
   Said co-president Stephanie, “The club has given me the opportunity to help people my age and younger, whether it’s raising money or awareness for a cause.”
   ”O Ambassadors has definitely strengthened my interests in pursuing a career in the human rights sector,” she said.
   On joining the Junior O Ambassadors Club last year, seventh-grader Anusha Kemburu said, “I wanted to help other kids around the world who do not have what we have. I wanted them to experience the happiness that we do every day.”
   Anusha said, “In the future I would like to fund raise more and learn more about developing countries. I definitely want to stay involved.”
   ”I joined because I couldn’t stand that kids in other countries live in the conditions they do and I wanted to find a way to change it,” said seventh-grader Michael Aurdal. “I have learned to be a lot more grateful for what I have. I am really aware of how harsh it is in Third World countries, especially for kids.”
   Michael said that he planned on joining the high school club and eventually participate in a Free The Children trip to a developing nation to help build a school.
   Seventh-grade student Ali Husaini said, “In the future, I plan to be a very influential (club) member who will raise awareness of problems in other countries. I feel that we take education for granted here. When I get to the high school I plan to run for office in the (O Ambassadors) Club and hopefully go to Africa to help (Free The Children) build a school.”
   Ali said, as a Junior O Ambassador, he now knows that Free The Children does “so much work to give African children something that we have — like clean water, since they have many droughts there.”
   ”I have always been concerned about human rights, as far back as I can remember,” Ms. Alexander said, noting that starting O Ambassadors within East Windsor Regional School District was an extension of that passion.
   In January, O Ambassadors will begin a Water Rafiki necklace fundraiser. The necklaces, handmade by Maasai women in Kenya, will be sold for $10 each. The money raised will be donated for Free The Children clean water initiatives.
   On April 18, O Ambassadors will hold an annual day of silence to raise money for the We Are Silent campaign on behalf of children whose rights are not being upheld around the world.
   Ms. Alexander said, “I am inspired by the fact that our meetings often include discussions about students’ perceptions of their place in the world and how they believe they should help their less fortunate peers in developing countries.”
   To learn more visit www.freethechildren.com, or email Ms. Alexander at [email protected]. There is also a HHS O Ambassadors page on Facebook.