Can elementary school students make a significant difference in the lives of others?  Can they make a positive impact on less fortunate children who are facing unimaginable hardships? If the students are Murch Mustangs, the answer is an unqualified "yes!"

Under the leadership of the Student Council, Peer Mediators, and staff sponsors Vicki Otten, Sabrina Finberg, and Lauren Miller, Murch students launched the "Help Murch Help Haiti" campaign this week. Our students are collecting donations to send to Save the Children's Earthquake Children in Emergency Fund.  As of Thursday evening - in just four days-- our Mustangs had already raised $1,600. (For more details, see "Murch Raises Money for Haiti Earthquake Victims" in today's newsletter.)

Collectively, the students are seizing the opportunity to reach out to those in crisis by bringing in coins and bills. Individually, students are rising to the occasion in myriad ways. For example, third-grader Ha Dang and her mother made cookies last weekend to sell in their apartment building's lobby, raising $105 for Help Murch Help Haiti. A lot of coins are plinking into the collection bottles, hinting at piggy banks emptied and hard-earned savings turned over to children who are in real need. Seeing the coins and the worn dollar bills coming in this week leaves the adults here in awe of our concerned and compassionate Murch children.

The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills identifies "social responsibility" as one of the essential life skills that our children need to succeed as citizens and workers in the 21^st century. Mastering the core academic areas is necessary for every student, but it takes much more for children to grow into successful teenagers and adults. I am grateful for the support our teachers, staff, and parents are providing to our children as they develop into global citizens. And I am extremely proud of the Murch students for demonstrating leadership and personal responsibility in this time of crisis. When I look into the faces of our children and see and hear how much they care about others, I feel very, very hopeful about our future.

Parents, if you would like to write a check to the Help Murch Help Haiti fundraising effort, please make checks payable to "Murch Elementary School."  Your donation will be acknowledged with a letter of thanks for tax purposes.

On a less inspiring but still essential note, PLEASE return your letter of intent for next school year back to your child's teacher or the main office as soon as possible. If you need another copy, just give us a call and we will send one right out to you.
--Dawn Ellis, principal

Murch Raises Money for

The Student Council and Peer Mediators kicked off a fundraising campaign this week for Haiti's earthquake victims. All monies raised will benefit the nonprofit organization Save the Children, which has a proven track record in the Caribbean country and currently has about 250 staff on the ground.  

For almost 100 years, Save the Children has worked in 50 countries, and since 1978 has been providing health care, education, and food to Haitian children in need. Since the earthquake on Jan. 12, Save the Children has set up a temporary camp to provide shelter to hundreds of families left without a home in Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince, expanded the number of people seen at their mobile health clinics in two areas hard hit by the earthquake, identified 5,000 families to receive shelter and non-food aid in one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake, and distributed more than 16.5 tons of medical supplies to children and families in need.

Peer Mediators visited classrooms on Monday to ask students to bring in pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, dollars, and checks to "Help Murch Help Haiti." After school, Student Council members made posters to raise awareness of the drive. By Thursday, the school had raised more than $1,600.  

But this is just a start. 

Looking beyond the immediate crisis, the students would like to see this as a long-term effort. "They have discussed the possibility of eventually finding a school or a children's organization that would give the Murch community the opportunity to establish a more long-term relationship," says Student Council sponsor Sabrina Finberg. "They have great ideas for some fundraisers beyond collecting money."

Each classroom has a container for collecting money. Please bring in change, bills, and checks. Make out checks to "Murch Elementary School." Members of the Student Council and Peer Mediators will come by each morning to collect the money your class has donated.

Please...Help Murch help Haiti!

Friedman's Class Chases Vermeer

Ms. Friedman's third-grade class went to the National Gallery of Art on Jan. 20. We saw four paintings by 17^th-century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer: "A Lady Writing"; "Girl With A Red Hat"; "Woman Holding A Balance"; and "Girl With A Flute."

We split up into two groups, each with a curator. A curator is someone who guides you through the museum. The curators talked about how Vermeer painted scenes from everyday life.

We got the idea to go to the museum after we read a mystery by Blue Balliett called "Chasing Vermeer." It's about a girl named Petra, a boy named Calder, and a Vermeer painting - "A Lady Writing" - that gets stolen. You'll have to read the book to find out what happens! It's very exciting. Whenever our teacher said it was time to stop reading, the whole class would moan, "Nooo!"

We also looked at a painting by another Dutch master, Jan Steen, called "The Dancing Couple." Guess what - the artist painted himself in the scene, tickling the chin of a lady in an elegant gown!

-- Adelaide Kaiser, third grade