The students at Gainesville Middle School have taken their school district's slogan, "One Gainesville" a step further to make it "One Gainesville; One World."
The seventh-grade class participated in a service-learning project that involved bringing clean water to South Sudan, Africa.
While participating in a cross-curricular study of Africa, students learned the plight of the people in South Sudan caused by the war-torn country, disease, and lack of clean water. As part of their studies, students read "A Long Walk to Water," by Linda Sue Parks, which is partly a biography of the life of Salva Dut, one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" and the founder of the nonprofit organization, Water for South Sudan.
After learning that many people of South Sudan were walking up to eight hours a day just to get muddy water to drink, students at GMS were inspired to participate in "The Iron Challenge" to help build wells for the people of South Sudan. The seventh-grade students created posters using advertising techniques learned in class to encourage all students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades to donate their ice cream money and spare change to support the people of South Sudan and even involved parents in the fundraising during Fine Arts Night on February 28.
As one student put it, "When I think of how much water I waste, I am ashamed. I leave the water running while brushing my teeth twice a day, and I throw away barely touched bottles of water. I will definitely be changing my ways because I don't like the person I see in the mirror" (making a connection to Michael Jackson's song, "Man in the Mirror" that was part of their cross-curricular unit).
In three short weeks, students raised more than $1,200 to sponsor building a well in South Sudan.
