West Madison fourth-graders collect soccer gear for Haitian orphans

West Madison fourth-graders Adrian Matzkin, from left, Keaton Kirkpatrick, Meredith Hartwig, Benjamin Arn and Aidan Menne show soccer donations collected for an orphanage in Haiti. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – A study on earthquakes has led fourth-graders at West Madison Elementary School to collect soccer equipment for an orphanage in Haiti.

All 85 fourth-graders in Valerie Crenshaw, Carmen Goode, Whitney Lawrence and Morgan Stone’s classes are participating. They’re encouraging other classes to join the cause.

Throughout September, fourth-graders will collect all sizes of new or used soccer balls, old jerseys, orange cones for field markers, shin guards and jump ropes (available for $1 at dollar stores) for the Haitian orphans. “The children of Haiti love soccer,” Lawrence said.

The drive resulted from a weekly reading story about earthquakes. “We’ll take the items collected and use them to practice our multiplication arrays and strategies, as well as division of items into groups,” Lawrence said.

“Haiti was hit by a terrible earthquake in 2010 and is still struggling to recover,” Lawrence said. “It is the poorest nation in the world.”

As the month progresses, Crenshaw, Goode, Lawrence and Stone will share facts about Haiti. “We hope to teach the students about how other children in the world live and a sense of appreciation for what they have,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence has invited Harry Hames, who works for a humanitarian aid group called Healing Hands International, to speak to classes. Hames will share photographs and stories from his visits to the orphanages.

‘Mr. Harry’ has spoken to one of Lawrence’s classes in a “very eye-opening experience for them all. They listened in awe and asked lots of good questions.”

Lawrence hopes “to instill in students at a young age that serving others is important to making an impact in the world. Most of the children in Madison do not fully understand the level of poverty in Haiti.”

Her goal is for students to develop “a sense of appreciation for what they have and opportunities and resources to participate in sports like soccer.” In October, Hames will help with shipping a large crate with the donations to Haiti.