Students take steps toward shoe challenge

Within 10 days, Rosemont Middle School students aim to collect 2,500 pairs of gently used shoes to ship to children in need in Africa.

Now several days into the challenge, the campus has already gathered about 1,000 pairs of shoes, said assistant principal Sebastian Puccio.

The challenge was inspired by the nonprofit Nevada-based organization, Think Kindness, which promotes similar shoe drives at other schools, coupled with the idea that students also embark on 15 days filled with “daily acts of kindness” on their own campus.

Last week at Rosemont, it was “fist-bump Tuesday,” in which seventh and eighth-graders were fist-bumping with their classmates and teachers in the hallways between classes.

The school already has a kindness club and a campus-wide theme, “Kindness is the new cool,” so when the challenge to collect 2,500 pairs of shoes came about, Puccio said, “It fit perfectly with everything we’ve been doing at Rosemont.”

After Think Kindness gives the shoes to children in Kenya, Puccio said students will watch video footage the organization will take to record the delivery.

Rosemont Middle School will accept donations of shoes through Sept. 25 in the school’s front office, located at 4725 Rosemont Avenue.