Ashamed

Lelia Rill
September 4, 2009
Filed under News

Apalling. That’s what some would call it. Others call it horrific or terrible, but they all describe the same thing: the conditions of the schools in Marion district seven, Dillon district two, and Hampton County. There are many schools that are in this cactegory, known as “the corridor of shame.”  These schools are run down places with limited space for the students, unsanitary working conditions, and buildings falling apart. Some of these schools don’t even have enough materials for their students.

Craig Martin’s Leadership class is bonding together with the administration to host a fundraiser and a book drive for the schools.  Junior, Leah Posley, says, “I want to have a book drive and raise money to send to the schools.”

Brashier students are very motivated and are excited about helping out these kids. They plan to have the advisories compete to bring in the most supplies. “I think that would be awesome! It would be entertainment for us, and plus it will bring in money for the corridor of shame,” says Posley.  Taking on the responsibility of hosting a fundraiser is very hard, but Posley says, “It shows that they do care aobut other people, and that they actually want to help.”

Angela Huggins, principal of both Rains Centenary Early Childhood Development Center and Brittion’s Neck Elementary, says, “We had to move our 1st-5th grader’s to Britton’s Neck because we had to shut down the front part of Rains Centenary because it was unfit to house children in.”  Even though a documentary was made about the I-95 corridor in 2005, the situation has gotten worse. “What we really need are the things the parents can’t provide, such as tissues, notebooks, and hand sanitizer, some of the higher-end items.”

Huggins was very excited to hear about BMC’s fundraiser. “That is great! We try to provide the children with reading materials, so they can practice, unfortunately, there aren’t enough books for all of the children.”

It’s hard to believe that all this started in a Leadership class.  Martin, who teaches Leadership says, “We are in the process of planning out through the leadership class, but first we need to seek administrative aproval. This means that the students will be the primary movers of this fundraiser and the originators,” says Martin. The whole school will be invited to join in once the leadership class gets things going.

Martin says, “I feel like it’s a good way to get the Leadership class out there for students and know the great things we’re doing…”

Many students outside of the class are now taking interest. The reaction to the I-95 corridor documentary has ranged from disgust to pure anger. Martin says, “I think we are on the right track to finding good solutions to a bad problem. I have been pleasently surprised with how energetic and innovative they have been in coming up with their solutions.” The leadership class will be presenting their solutions to the administration on September 3rd. Martin says he will inform the school of the of the date of the fundraiser once it is approved.  “In the end, the kids down in the corridor of shame win, and that’s all that matters”