Mariners Elementary raises nearly $6,000 for school for young Ukrainian refugees
Kids know a lot more about the world than people think.
Mariners Elementary teachers and student government advisors Jan Stark and Jeff Qualey know that better than anyone else.
After the Russian army invaded Ukraine in February, Stark and Qualey thought about how to explain the situation abroad to their students in Newport Beach. How should they explain what was happening? How, exactly, could those conversations go? Was it appropriate?
How could they, as teachers, foster empathy in these children thousands of miles away from Kyiv?
After a staff meeting in March during which Mariners Elementary teachers discussed those questions, Qualey and Stark explained the situation to both their classes and to the student government. Qualey, who teaches sixth grade, said his students were “definitely” aware of what was happening abroad, and many were horrified.
Stark, who teaches fifth grade, said she had a student come into class wearing a shirt in support of Ukraine.
“They’re very aware of it,” said Stark, who said she copied that student in sporting a similar shirt. “They were already, at that age, aware of it.”
Stark said that without talking about the political aspects or deeply diving into the war, itself, she and Qualey worked to build empathy for Ukrainian children whose lives have been uprooted by the conflict.
“What if we had to all flee Newport Beach and go to another place or country where we didn’t speak the language?” she said.
Spurred on by their own worries and concerns, Mariners’ student government sprang into action and pivoted the body’s donation drive from Heiffer International, a nonprofit focusing on eradicating hunger and poverty sustainably, to the Ukrainian refugee crisis.
As of Thursday, the United Nations reported 5.7 million people have fled Ukraine, with the majority of these refugees — about 3.1 million — resettling in Poland. More than half are children, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in April.
Stark and Qualey said they initially struggled to find just the right way to contribute to the cause by finding a way for students to help directly and not relying on organizations to distribute what was given.
Mariners fifth-grader Caroline Hoover said the students decided, “Hey, we wanted to give it to them so they could use the [collections] from that day to go to the people that very day.”
That’s when the name of Cohen Smith, a third-grader who attends Mariners, came up. Cohen attends the Newport Beach school about six months of the year and lives with his family in Poland for the rest. Cohen traveled to Poland with his family at the beginning of this year, and when the invasion occurred, the Smith family decided to stay put and help secure housing for refugees.
“Mr. Qualey did a lot of research on how we could give. Some people didn’t get back with him, but when this opportunity opened up? It was like the golden ticket,” said Stark.
Sofia Denisi, a co-chair of the charity team, said the student government asked every student to provide a small donation that would be collected in a plastic box and counted at the end of the week. It started small with coin collecting, then got bigger and bigger throughout the three-week campaign.
By the end of their effort, spurred on by a challenge thrown down by student government member Caruso Polenzani, they raised about $4,500 in three weeks. Some students donated from their personal bank accounts with parental permission. Others sold bracelets and lemonade to make donations happen. The student government also voted to donate an additional $1,000 of its own funds to the cause, bringing them to about $5,500.
The funds will go to fund a school for kindergartners through the third grade in Poland for the refugees.
Sofia said this campaign wasn’t unique. It happens all the time.
The student government, fifth-grader Malia Piantanida explained, is elected by the student body and regularly works to rally student energy around events. They’re pretty much self-sufficient and come up with their own ideas, with input from Stark and Qualey.
One member of the school’s executive cabinet even ran on the idea of increasing fundraising events, said Stark.
Students were able to see the impacts of their donations to the Ukrainian refugees immediately through photos they were sent and a Zoom call that was hosted between the Smiths and students on campus.
“It was instantaneous, but also [the refugees] saw their needs on the ground right away and they didn’t need some people to say, ‘I think they might need this,’” said Qualey.
They also received some drawings from child refugees, one of which Stark says “haunted” her because it depicted an army tank.
“We have proven to be a wonderful example of a community coming together to make a change,” said Sofia. “We made announcements weekly to inform the school about the great achievements that we have helped create and we have made humongous impacts on the lives of so many Ukrainian children. Throughout the year, we have done many great things, but we have gone from just helping our community to helping a totally different country.”
Stark said the student government has since completed its fundraising drive at school but people would be able to continue donating through Mariners Elementary.
Caroline said it was hard to think about the war, but she felt it became easier once she was able to do something about it and take control of the what was a negative situation and do something good.
Sixth-grader Kit Harrington said she was glad to have been able to help with the campaign and added she’s donated to local charities in the past but now feels she has a higher calling.
“Knowing all the necessities that our school was able to provide for Ukrainian refugees makes me feel like we’ve impacted some of these people’s lives,” said Kit. “It is amazing being able to lead and watch over our school working together to make this world a better place.”
Stark and Qualey said watching the campaign evolve organically and be driven chiefly by students has been gratifying and continues to be one of their favorite roles as teachers.
“It’s one of the best parts of my job: watching them develop as leaders and making them realize that ‘You may be a child, but you can have a huge impact’ and giving them the power to know that they can have that? Look at what they’ve done,” Stark said.
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