Midnight Madness at LMK Middle School

Students at Louis M. Klein Middle School hosted an activities night called "Midnight Madness" on Friday from 7 p.m.- midnight.  

The event was sponsored by the student club Kids for World Health and the Student Council. All proceeds generated from the event will benefit a school in Tanzania, Africa.  The school is community service oriented and has held various fundraisers throughout the year.

This marks the first year the school held this specific fundraiser--they hope to host it annually. Before this event, the school raised more than $3,000 for earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

L.M.K. teachers Alison Blunt, an eighth grade science teacher, Erica Mayus, a physical education and health teacher, and Julia Long, an art teacher, teamed up and were responsible for running the event. They are all advisors for the Kids for World Health organization at the school.

"The idea came from a former substitute teacher named Ana Lee Kirner who was filling in for a teacher on maternity leave," Blunt said. "She's left us and started a school in Tanzania and our kids got involved behind her and wanted to do a fundraiser to help that school be a success; so we put together a fundraiser called "Midnight Madness.""

The school has done various fundraisers throughout the year. Midnight Madness charged a $10 donation cover charge to dance, play, etc. for five hours at the school. The goal is to raise over $3,000 toward Kirner's cause.

"So far we've helped put windows and a roof on this building," Long said. "They now have wood furniture to sit on and desktops and we're in the process of raising more funds--so far we've raised over $7,000 to build the school."

Kirner, who runs the school in Tanzania, has been keeping the L.M.K. students up to date via blog. Later in the night, kids communicated directly with Kirner using Skype, a two way video program, so she could see the event and the kids could see what they were raising funds for.

"The students have been following her journey and we've continued to Skype with her," Long said. "We've had 250 students signed up and 210 students checked in, we're expecting at least 275-300 attendees by the end of the night."

"It's really important for the kids to give back to the community and raise global awareness,"  Mayus said. "We've donated desks and books, and we've made many donations and the kids are really excited about helping. They keep coming back for more."

Steve Goodstein, an eighth grade social studies teacher and student council advisor, talked about the money being raised at these events:

"We had a talent show in the afternoon which went toward the Harrison Food Bank. In the past month or so we've raised nearly $10,000 for all these organizations," he said.  "We want to set a good example for the kids and they come through in so many ways."

"The goal is not only to raise money but to establish a nice learning community for the students--this event enhances that learning community. The fact that they could be someplace on a Friday night for a positive reason; keeping active and seeing their friends and meeting new friends, which is really nice," Goodstein said.

Students are given many opportunities throughout the year to show their compassion and empathy to those around them. The efforts to assist the local community in Africa should teach these young students a valuable lesson.