Students And Staff Across Half Hollow Hills Supporting Hurricane Relief Efforts

Students and staff across the nine school buildings in the Half Hollow Hills Central School District are working to support relief efforts for those impacted in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. The many projects being spearheaded by members of the school community are aimed at getting aid to those most in need in the wake of these natural disasters.

At High School East the National Art Honor Society collected three cartloads of essentials to send down to Florida through Island Harvest, the largest hunger relief organization on Long Island. The group partnered with the PTSA, other clubs at the high school, teachers and the community to collect critical items like water and canned goods to send to the victims of the recent hurricanes.

“Having experienced the devastation after Hurricane Sandy just five years ago, our students are cognizant of the needs of communities that have just been hit by a major natural disaster,” said Allyson Uttendorfer, art teacher at High School East and advisor for the National Art Honor Society. “I’m so proud of our students for their motivation and character in leading an important humanitarian effort like this.”

Over at High School West, three teachers adopted a classroom at Cypress Creek High School in Texas through the website TeachersofTomorrow.org. The class in need sent them a wish list of school supplies in high demand after the flood caused by the hurricane, and they were able to solicit many donations of pens, pencils, binders and other stationary supplies to be shipped south.

Special education teacher Erin Nunziato at High School West who helped initiate this effort said, “It was pretty amazing to see how many donations we received in such a short time. We plan to video conference with the class we were paired with once they get back on their feet.”

Fifth graders at Signal Hill Elementary School decided to hold a food and supplies drive for the many people in need in Puerto Rico, and are working with employees at American Airlines to ship the supplies to the island that is reeling from hurricane Maria. The airline employees will distribute the supplies to victims immediately upon arriving, so they don’t get held up at the airport.

“We thought that Puerto Rico would be the most important right now, because it’s an island and has no power,” said fifth grader Rayyan Mehmood.

As part of their character education topic of lending a hand, students at Paumanok Elementary School are coloring paper houses and collecting donations to be made to Habitat for Humanity to support rebuilding projects specifically located in the areas hit by the hurricanes.

Student council is holding a food and supplies drive at Sunquam Elementary School, clubs at Candlewood and West Hollow Middle Schools are raising money for the American Red Cross, and similar projects are underway at Vanderbilt and Otsego elementary schools as the community has come out in full force to lend a hand to those affected by the recent hurricanes.

“Our school community truly values giving back, as evidenced by all of these grass-roots hurricane relief efforts self-started by our students and staff,” said Dr. Patrick Harrigan, superintendent of schools for the district. “Volunteer efforts like these establish a firm foundation for lifelong service to others and philanthropy.”

ABOUT HALF HOLLOW HILLS:

An education-oriented community with high academic expectations, the Half Hollow Hills Central School District is located in a residential area of 50,000 people in the central part of Long Island, approximately 40 miles from New York City. Providing for the education of more than 8,000 students, the school district has five elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools. Half Hollow Hills High Schools are fully accredited by the New York State Department of Education and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The District is committed to providing students opportunities to excel in academics, athletics, and the arts.