Let’s give our students the drive to succeed.Remember the excitement of the first day of a fresh school year? A shiny, new, yet un-dented Roy Rogers Chow Wagon Lunchbox was packed with the wholesome goodness of Wonder Bread and bologna, nutritious potato chips and a Twinkie or two. Its matching clunky, but oh-so-fragile glass and metal thermos—not yet tainted by sour milk, not yet broken into a million mariachi fragments—was filled with vitamin-packed Ovaltine, all in an effort to propel a young student through a long day of learning.
New unscuffed saddle shoes—the black and white unblemished—new school clothes, a gigantic zippered notebook big enough to hold holey paper, unsharpened pencils, big pink erasers, ink pens and cartridges, Elmer’s glue, compasses, and other sacrosanct school supplies completed the promise of a successful school year.
And after a hearty breakfast of lumpy Malt O Meal, off to school we go with the pristine semester stretching out before us, filled with expectations and hopes of stellar grades and an anything-is-possible future. Back in the day, anything was possible. And the anticipation was intoxicating.
Kids these days may not tote metallic lunch boxes and dangerously explosive thermoses to school, but they still use and need supplies. Today, many students in Maui County don’t start a school year with new school supplies—or any at all. Many don’t get new school clothes, or even breakfast, leaving teachers to spend their own money to even the learning field for their students.
Close to 40 percent of the children at Maui’s in-need schools can use some kind of assistance with all of their schools needs, said Sarah Sorenson, president of the Realtors Association of Maui and coordinator for the Wishing Well, a group which catalogues a wish list for all Maui public schools. The Wishing Well is also trying to help the public schools on Lana‘i, Moloka‘i and in Hana. “We are here to lend assistance to any area that needs it,” Sorenson said.
No one can deny that hard times have hit very hard in this continuing economic downturn. So your help is needed more than ever. You will have that opportunity during a Rotary International school supplies drive on Saturday and Sunday, July 19 and 20.
Rotary International is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional and community leaders. Members of Rotary clubs provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace.
There are eight Rotary clubs spread throughout Maui, and they will collect supplies islandwide at various locations, including Walmart, Safeway and Longs Drugs stores on Saturday and at Office Max on Saturday and Sunday.
Don’t leave teachers to buy school supplies with their hard-earned wages. Let’s help give our students the drive to succeed, a fresh start in this new school year, and a bright future.