Shipley parent Lori DiGuardi announced the launch of the Brain Tree Primary School Website in February, 2007. “The website was created to be an informational tool for everyone who supports Brain Tree. A place to go and see what has and is being done. What they’ve worked for and supported over the years…perhaps it will serve to inspire others to be involved as well,” said Lori of the new site.

The Brain Tree School celebrated the opening of its new library this past summer, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Shipley community during the 2005-2006 school year. Over 4,000 books were donated in just six months, in addition to $6,500 to be used for shipping the books overseas, with any surplus funds going towards the balance of library construction. Shipley’s Librarians, Barbara Holt and Liz Cousins, provided support by teaching DiGuardi how to organize a library. Students and faculty members contributed their time to help catalogue the thousands of donated books.

Now all those who contributed materials, money, and time to the Brain Tree Library Project can see the result of their donations—without traveling to Africa. “I think visitors to the Website will see that Brain Tree, a school created to serve orphans and poor children, is not a sad story. The story of Brain Tree really is a celebration of what can be done when ‘love and skill’ come together for children,” explained Lori (making reference to a John Ruskin quote which she used on the Website). “The sad story is the story of other children around the world who don’t have a Brain Tree.”

To see pictures from Braintree and read more about the School’s story, check out the Brain Tree School's website.

Read Lori’s account of her trip to Brain Tree during the summer of 2006.