Students Support Water for South Sudan

Last year, the Class of 2020 (then in 8th grade) read A Long Walk to Water as part of their Education for the Development of Leadership and Service (EDLS) class. Inspired by the story, the class created a ‘penny wars’ competition to raise money for Water for South Sudan. When all the pennies and coins were counted, a little over $700 had been donated and is now being sent to Water for South Sudan on behalf of the AGS Class of 2020.

According to now 9th grader Sarah Eazzetta, “A Long Walk to Water chronicles a family who lived in Africa and didn’t have water readily available. They had to walk many miles in the heat with no shoes on, just to get dirty water. The entire grade felt strongly that they wanted to help the protagonist Salva raise money to build wells that would be closer to families and provide cleaner water. This would save the families time and would lower the health risks associated with the muddy water they had been drinking for years. We wanted to raise money in a way more interesting than just having one dress down day. We decided penny wars was a fun, competitive way for each grade to compete for the most money.”