As recovery efforts continue on Maui, San Diego elementary school students and their families are receiving support in fire-ravaged areas.
This unusual donation drive began in Sherry Cricket’s second-grade classroom at Wedgeforth Elementary School in Serra Mesa.
“I wanted the second graders to learn compassion and empathy. (I wanted them) to go to school the next day and feel what it would be like if the school burned down,” Cricket said.
Just over a week ago, a math lesson in cricket class took on a deeper meaning as students and their families began collecting change to help Hawaiian children on the island of Maui.
She has long-standing ties to Hawaii as a property owner on the Big Island and spends many of her vacations there.
“I like the spirit of aloha, and it’s about being kind to everyone,” she said.
More than $700 in coins and other money has already been donated, and students are counting every penny. The rest of the school is also participating in the initiative, which includes collecting new school supplies for the coming months. All donations will go to the children who need it most.
Cricket trusted friends on Maui to help distribute it. John and Joanna Stockham live nine miles north of the Lahaina fire zone.
“It was really burning and there was no escape. People were covered in smoke. It was scary,” John Stockham said Monday in a Zoom interview with KPBS from his home on Maui.
The Stockham family moved to Hawaii from Southern California 20 years ago. Over the past few weeks, they have been helping students at Catholic Sacred Hearts School in Lahaina find a place to continue their studies. The temporary classrooms included covered parking and unused church space.
“If we can connect them, it means actually connecting kids one-on-one and allowing them to go back and forth. (They) can learn from each other. I think we’re taking education out of the classroom,” Joanna Stockham said. She and her husband have previously served on the Maui District School Board.
The Stockham family will ensure that all cash and school supplies sent from Wegeforth Primary School reach children who need it right now. Public schools hope to open in other temporary locations by Halloween.
