LES Jr. Beta Conquers the Tornado!

Poole Elementary in Paulding County was hit by a tornado in February and they lost all the contents in several classrooms. Jr. Beta Club members thought that coordinating a School Supply Drive to benefit these classrooms would be a great way to end their year. This project also served as their 4^th quarter service project as all members are required to participate in one service project each quarter in order to remain active in the club.

The club designed and put up posters all over the school to advertise the need of school supplies for both teachers and students. They also sent flyers home with each student to let the community know which supplies were needed. 

They collected items for four days and had to empty the collection bins twice.  The donations filled the entire bed of a pickup truck! The supplies were then driven to the School Box in Conyers which is a drop-off collection point. The manager of the store was very grateful for the donation and said that Loganville Elementary has been the only school to donate at their store. For LES Jr. Beta club students, there were several reasons why I was an important project to undertake.

“It is important to me to help out a school that is in need of supplies. I think that Poole elementary will be very happy to see all the new supplies - ESPECIALLY the principal,” said Cody Powell, president of the club. “I know that if our school had all of its supplies destroyed, our principal and the students would be overjoyed to get new supplies.”

Cody said it felt “amazing” to be able to help out another school in Georgia.

“During the Beta meeting when I heard we were going to help them out, I could not wait,” he said. “We had around 40 students making posters that we could put up around the school to tell them to bring in supplies. I think that we had an overwhelming turnout with the school supply drive.”

These sentiments were echoed by Gracie Rickman, vice president of the Jr. Beta Club.

“Helping Poole Elementary was a great thing to do. With our school helping out, Poole Elementary will become a brand new school with new supplies. I know this school will be overjoyed to see all of the new supplies,” Gracie said. “Doing this for Poole Elementary will get LES’s name out there.  Plus, it tells people that our school is willing to help.”

Gracie said she felt it was a big achievement to help the students at Poole Elementary and she hopes other people do too.

Riley Dunn, who is secretary of LES Jr. Beta Club, said the exercise taught them so many valuable lessons, including the importance of giving back to people in the state and community.

“One lesson was even though we are just kids, we can make a big difference. It is the best feeling when you know you made a difference,” Riley said. “It makes me feel great being able to help the students at Poole Elementary. We could have been in their shoes. I would have wanted them to do this for us. It makes me happy to know that I am giving back to the community. I know most of the other students felt the same way. It just feels awesome giving back to the community. I can’t say it enough.”

Michael Lewis-Wedderburn, treasurer of the club, emphasized the importance of helping others.

“I feel you need to give instead of receiving. It makes my heart smile whenever I see someone recover from anything in this world,” he said. “It makes me feel so great when we did this to help Poole Elementary.  I hope they can recover from the tornado.”

The Jr. Beta members and sponsors are thankful to everyone who thoughtfully and willingly gave with so much enthusiasm. A tornado is no match for Loganville Elementary families!  

Contributed by Susan K. West, Gifted Reading and Math Teacher, Loganville Elementary School.