By James Lomuscio
Even though it’s exam time at Westport’s Staples High School, students in teacher Cathy Schager’s Contemporary World class aren’t cramming for tests.
Students involved in the project include (l-r) (l-r) Gavin Berger (class of ’17), Eli Debenham (‘17), Emir Beg (‘17, Sarah Maybruck (‘18), Molly Liebergall (‘17), Michael Simons (‘18), and Theo Kokoff (‘18), Absent—Eden Schumer (‘18). (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
They’re tackling a different kind of final, one that puts them in touch with the world they studied — raising funds for civilians affected by ongoing violence in Syria.
So, while other students are hunkering down at desks, students like seniors Eli Debenham, Lauren Davis, Emir Beg and George Goldstein can be found outside the cafeteria asking for spare change.
Hence the program they started: Spare Change for Syria. And the coin drops are adding up.
“We made about $200 today,” Debenham said on Tuesday, the first day out. “I was shocked.”
He said the fundraising will go on for two weeks. Other events planned are two information sessions in the Staples library that are designed to raise awareness about war ravaged Syria, particularly Aleppo. The are scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 25, and Thursday, Jan. 26.
The sessions will include a student produced documentary on Syria, followed by a question and answer period, Debenham said.
He described Schager’s course Contemporary World as “a pretty unique class.”
“It’s never really the same from semester to semester because it focuses on current issues,” Debenham said.
“Over the course of the semester we’ve been focusing on what’s going on in Syria; we’ve been just watching the day-to-day violence and the destruction of Aleppo,” he said. “On a Friday there was only one hospital left in Aleppo and on Sunday that hospital was gone.”
As finals approached, Debenham said the teacher asked the class of about 20 students what kind of project they would like to do instead “to make a difference.”
“There was a pretty substantial planning phase,” Debenham said about Spare Change for Syria.
To give the project an added push, he said it was designed to include a competition among freshmen through seniors to see which grade raised the most.
“The senior bag was quite heavy, so I think we were the winner for the day,” he said Tuesday.
Those who want to learn more about Spare Change for Syria can visit the students’ Facebook page shschangeforsyria and on Twitter @shschangesyria.
