Thanks to some first graders at Shipley, 60 students at the Brain Tree Primary School in Uganda will have lunches for an entire year. Erin Tessler’s first-grade class carried out the fundraising project, which Tessler dubbed “1-T Gives to Brain Tree,” in response to a student’s request. “This is a great example of a student embodying Shipley’s emphasis on ‘Giving of Ourselves,’” remarked Tessler. She loved the idea, and created an age-appropriate fundraiser for her students. 

During the first week of the fundraiser, students were paid for each minute they read. Parents, neighbors, and even a couple of lizards pitched in to pay the 18 first graders for a combined total of over 2,000 minutes — or 34 hours — of reading. The next week, students raised money by completing “chores well done” at home. “My students were so excited about the project — and so were their parents,” said Tessler.

The class raised $1,200 in two weeks, counting the money as it came in. For every $20 that was raised, students took turns pasting a photo of a Brain Tree student on their Fundraising Bulletin Board. “When they got to 18, my students were floored to realize that they could feed the same number of kids that are in this class for a year,” said Tessler. “Their excitement amazed me.”

Earlier this year, The Shipley School’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to adopt The Brain Tree Primary School in Uganda as its official African sister school. Beth Hucker, Chair of Shipley’s Board of Trustees commented, “Since 2002, Shipley has been supporting the efforts of the founders of the Brain Tree School to bring education, housing, friendship, and a greater awareness of the world at large to a community much in need of our support. In return, our own students have gained a greater appreciation of the value of getting an education and supporting those less fortunate than ourselves. And the children in both communities have had a lot of fun in the process.”

Within each division of the School, students have participated in activities to help fund the construction of a library, scholarships for students, teachers’ salaries, brand new science equipment, and now, a year’s worth of lunches for 60 students.