LHS students helping Honduras
For the past five years, Lawrence High School (LHS) Spanish teacher Alyssa Katz has traveled to northern Honduras with high school and college students to build schools through Students Helping Honduras (SSH). This past July, her group spent a week in the community of Esfuerzo de Jesus, breaking ground on the Jorge Fidel Duron Middle School. This school will provide the opportunity for students from four local communities to receive an education above the 6th grade.
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Alyssa Katz, third from left, and the LHS chapter of SHH
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Honduras, where over 60% of families live in poverty, is a country plagued by violence. Many children do not have access to schools and therefore spend their childhood on the streets, selling peanuts and washing windows just to make enough money to eat. The goal of SHH is to build 1000 schools throughout the country, providing an education to all 3 million children (under the age of 15), as well as opportunities for future success.
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Breaking ground on the Jorge Fidel Duron Middle School
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The LHS chapter of SHH has been instrumental in raising funds over the past 5 years, and because of the recent success of its fundraisers, the Jorge Fidel Duron Middle School is being fully funded by the efforts of LHS students, their families, and the Lawrence community. Each school built through SHH costs approximately $25,000, and as of July 2016, LHS has raised nearly $17,000. Once the school is completed, it will be painted red and white in honor of LHS, and display a plaque naming Lawrence High School as well as the students responsible for the majority of the fundraising. Ms. Katz will return to Honduras next summer with LHS students for the school's inauguration.
See SHH in action in this video created by LHS senior Nelle Evans during the recent trip to Honduras. Below are links for donations and the SHH website. LHS hopes to raise the remaining $8,000 by December 2016. Stayed tuned for upcoming fundraisers - with your help the LHS chapter of SHH can be the first high school chapter to fully fund a school in Honduras!