Purcellville school helps community devastated by hurricanes

Connecting Students on a Global Scale

Students at Hillsboro Charter Academy (HCA) signed and created book marks for hundreds of books donated to their fellow students who were affected by Hurricane Maria last fall. Their efforts were part of the school’s awareness activities and service projects.

The environmentally-themed books were donated by local nonprofit The Nature Generation and shipped to the Boys and Girls Club in Christiansted and the Good Hope Country Day School in Kingshill in the US Virgin Islands. Both were dealt a devastating blow by Hurricane Maria when the category 5 storm hit the Island on September 19 with sustained winds of over 157 mph. Both lost classroom materials and supplies and immediately went into hurricane cleanup and debris removal and recovery efforts.

The students wrote messages like, “I hope you enjoy this book,” and “Hope this helps as you recover.” Paula Dillon, HCA librarian, said “books can be windows and books can be mirrors, and in this case they also helped build empathy and community.”

STEAM specialist at HCA Megan Tucker said the project gave the opportunity to connect with other students in the Virgin Islands and was a great experience to understand natural disasters and how we can help those affected by them.

The Nature Generation has been active with the Academy in the past. “Our mission is to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards and to bridge the environmental literacy gap,” said President and Founder Amy Marasco. “Partnering with HCA allows us to provide students in Loudoun with environmental author visits and books for classrooms and libraries that teach and encourage action. In this case, the students went a step farther and learned what happened to their fellow US students in the Virgin Islands —and by their actions we all were inspired.”

The school library is filled with Green Earth Book Award winning books – given to the school as a gift to the students, so they can be inspired by the stories and interesting facts about nature and caring for our planet. The Nature Generation bestows the national Green Earth Book Award annually to authors who best inspire and convey the idea of environmental stewardship. HCA students also have been inspired to be active stewards of the environment through eco-author school visits. It is a rare treat when schools are treated with a presentation from an author– when students meet an author, a connection is made that makes a lifelong impression.

The Academy’s principal, Mark Wertheimer, appreciates that not only has awareness been expanded about what others have to live through, but also that “our scholar’s awareness of the earth around them and to the impact nature has on their everyday lives is expanded as well.” Wertheimer also commends the community involvement, he said, “this kind of partnership with service groups, businesses, individuals, and community organizations is invaluable to our students as we work to provide them and their families with a sound and relevant education for the 21st century.”