Friday, May 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Cyprus Participats in the "Tents of Hope" project
On Friday April 11th a canvas wall tent will be set up on the front lawn of Cyprus High at approximately 9:30 AM. At that time roughly 80 students will gather to paint the tent, raise awareness and pay tribute to the victims and refugees of Darfur. The tent will then be displayed on the front lawns of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. with hundreds of other tents that will then be sent to the refugees to live in. The most amazing part of this process is the students. I simply presented a lecture on the events in Darfur in correlation with the events that happened at the holocaust over 50 years ago. I then had a few students ask me, “What can we do?” After talking to a few reps at the Save Darfur Coalition in Washington, the “Tents of Hope” project was discovered and we registered. This was only two weeks ago. During the day, flyers containing basic information will be available to anyone who comes to see the tent.
The students were touched by this program and they have raised every cent needed to buy the tent, the paint and t-shirts promoting activism raising to date over $900 so far. A large container has been passed around the school every day for the past 2 weeks and the students have generously given all the change in their pockets and then some.
The goal of this project was to simply raise awareness and the students have already reached this goal in the community and in the school. Every day, students show public service announcements that they have generated to inform the school during the announcement time. Students that are not a part of this project are committing themselves and their school work to further their understanding of what is happening in Darfur. Art Students are putting up hand made posters by the dozens across the school in support. We have put together some videos that the students have participated in. If you would like to view these, please go to www.cypruscares.blogspot.com.
Overall I am humbled. The most important aspect is the students have done the leg work and made it happen. They have spent hours upon hours raising their own money to pay for this. They have put their cell phones and ipod’s down and picked up flyers and gone to the community to raise money and awareness. If anything, they should be recognized for their grace and compassion. They are not just good, they are phenomenal. They make me proud and give me hope that the next generation of students will be passionate about things that truly matter.
The students were touched by this program and they have raised every cent needed to buy the tent, the paint and t-shirts promoting activism raising to date over $900 so far. A large container has been passed around the school every day for the past 2 weeks and the students have generously given all the change in their pockets and then some.
The goal of this project was to simply raise awareness and the students have already reached this goal in the community and in the school. Every day, students show public service announcements that they have generated to inform the school during the announcement time. Students that are not a part of this project are committing themselves and their school work to further their understanding of what is happening in Darfur. Art Students are putting up hand made posters by the dozens across the school in support. We have put together some videos that the students have participated in. If you would like to view these, please go to www.cypruscares.blogspot.com.
Overall I am humbled. The most important aspect is the students have done the leg work and made it happen. They have spent hours upon hours raising their own money to pay for this. They have put their cell phones and ipod’s down and picked up flyers and gone to the community to raise money and awareness. If anything, they should be recognized for their grace and compassion. They are not just good, they are phenomenal. They make me proud and give me hope that the next generation of students will be passionate about things that truly matter.
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