At P.S. 234, One Good Turn Deserved Another

 By Etta Sanders


Late one afternoon last month, Mary Henderson, principal of Franklinton Elementary School in Louisiana, sat alone in her office and opened the day's mail. One envelope contained a surprise: a check for $4,332.28 from a school in Tribeca, more than 1,000 miles away.

Franklinton Elementary students in Louisiana say thanks to P.S. 234 kids, who sent donations to their school.

"I was so elated to open that envelope yesterday," she said the next morning. "It was unbelievable. We had no idea we'd be so fortunate."

Good fortune had been in short supply. The winds of Hurricane Katrina blew the doors off the school and destroyed the playground. Many of the 418 students in the 3rd-through-5th-grade school are now homeless and staying with relatives.

Without a place to play, Henderson said, "The kids are like wandering in a desert out there." Now they can buy new playground equipment.

In another part of the state, a check, and boxes of books and supplies, were on their way to another school, Belle Chasse Elementary, at the mouth of the Mississippi River two miles from the New Orleans city line. The pre-K-through-4th-grade school was one of a handful in Plaquemanes Parish that survived the hurricane. Six of the parish's nine schools were severely damaged.


The Belle Chasse school's population has swelled by 300 students since the school year began, as it absorbed children from other schools. Many of their regular students have been displaced to other towns and states while they await the arrival of FEMA trailers so they can move back to the area.

"We have students here who have lost everything," said Cindy Hoyle, Belle Chasse's principal.

The school is hoping that FEMA will also supply trailers to serve as classrooms. When the regular students return, Hoyle said, the school, which normally has 900 students, may have to accommodate as many as 1,600 children.

The two Louisiana schools were the beneficiaries of a fundraising effort by P.S. 234 that was not just about giving, but also about giving back. Belle Chasse and Franklinton Elementary were two of the schools that sent money to help P.S. 234 after Sept. 11.

In October, the P.S. 234 PTA collected school supplies, board games and books. For eight days students filled envelopes with coins and dollar bills, keeping a daily log of "give-backs." Many gave up after-school treats such as ice cream, doughnuts and chocolate croissants, setting aside the money instead. Others turned over money earned from household chores. Some dug into their savings.

"I held my baby brother while my mom did the dishes," said a 2nd-grader, who earned $1.

"I gave up my dessert," wrote a 3rd-grader.

In some cases it was parents who sacrificed. A 2nd-grader netted $8 a day from "Mommy's latay."

A 1st-grader wrote across the page simply, "I emptied my money box. I hope it helps."

After eight days of missed snacks and extra chores, the students raised $7,664. Another $1,000 was donated by a professional development organization that works with the school. The total was equally divided between the two Louisiana schools.

Last month, 32 boxes were loaded onto a United Federation of Teachers truck to be delivered to the Louisiana schools. The boxes held nearly 100 backpacks, reams of paper, pencils, construction paper, crayons and markers, and more than 1,000 books.

The donations were special, said Hoyle, because of the source. "It really means a lot to us because it's P.S. 234," she said. "It was very heartwarming to think that after all they've been through they're going to turn around and help their fellow children."