Dows Lane Elementary Students Donate Supplies To Puerto Rico

IRVINGTON, NY — Students and staff at Dows Lane Elementary School were spreading kindness by assisting students who were affected by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. They donated more than 200 pounds of schools supplies to the Juana Colon School in Comerio, Puerto Rico.

“I hope our students took away the simple lesson of how good it feels to give and felt pride in the amazing job that they all did,” said Laurel Warager, a first-grade teacher who spearheaded the initiative. “For some, this may be one of their first experiences in what it means to be a global citizen.”

Throughout the month of November, which also coincided with the Dows Lane’s Character Education theme of taking action, the students collected pencils from kindergartners, glue sticks from first-graders, markers from second-graders and notebooks from third-graders, according to a district spokesman. Then, the supplies were dropped off with representatives from Move to Empower, a nonprofit organization, who delivered them to the Juana Colon School on Dec. 4 and 5.

“In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the Juana Colon School was left with more than 10 feet of water,” Warager said. “Virtually everything was destroyed. Through our partnership with Move to Empower, we were able to provide support and enable the school to get back on its feet. The teachers were overwhelmed with our generosity.”

Warager added that Principal Deborah Mariniello’s support was key to Dows Lane’s success.

Photo caption: Dows Lane Elementary School students donated more than 200 pounds of schools supplies to the Juana Colon School in Puerto Rico. Photo credit: Irvington Union Free School District.