Kindergartner students at Sunset proved they are conscious of what goes on around them in the news. They organized a water donation for families in Flint last month. With the help of their teachers, Betsy Breitenbach, Sarah Phillips, Leslie Trayers, Kristina Newhouse, and the rest of the students at Sunset Lake Elementary and Tobey Elementary, they were able to collect tons of water.
At Tobey, the student council was the chief organizer of the drive to pick up over 93 cases of water. It’s still coming in, said Principal Mike Barwegen. “After our Father/Daughter dance last week, some of the dads took what we had collected directly to Art Van for them to ship the water to Flint.”
Owen Bailey, a Sunset kindergarten student, and his family spearheaded the lesson in thinking of others, Breitenbach said. “We wanted to help because their water [in Flint] is yucky right now,” according to Camden Kuiper. “Lots of people combined to help,” according to Charlotte Bowditch, also in Breitenbach’s class. “The whole school got behind our effort when they found out about it.”
The water from both schools was given to Art Van in Kalamazoo. This company has been driving so much water to Flint that they have had to suspend the transportation until more storage can be found.