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Hurricane Harvey relief

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Students at Goodman Elementary School near Houston, Texas, will know they have some friends in Washington, Pa.

Washington High School student council is coordinating a collection of school supplies from the district and the community to send to Goodman Elementary later this month.

“Our 25 student council members are collecting such things as notebooks, pencils, colored pencils, crayons, glue sticks, kids’ scissors, construction paper and gently used children’s books,” said Jessica Ott, faculty adviser to the Wash High student council.

The collection drive ends Friday.

Ott said she had met Texas children’s author Rachael Peters several years ago at a conference in Washington, D.C., and has kept in contact with her. Peters sent emails to fellow educators about the need for assistance at various schools damaged by Hurricane Harvey, and Goodman was one of the schools. It is a school in the Fort Bend Independent School District.

“Goodman’s students are having classes in various organizations’ buildings,” Ott said, “and it will likely be that way for several months as their school is cleaned up and repaired from the damages.

“Many basic school supplies, as well as their library reading books, were lost. Classroom textbooks will be covered under the school’s insurance, but the need for basic items and storybooks exists.”

Student council members plan to write notes of encouragement and support for the elementary students who will receive the supplies.

“They will include notes on storybooks to let them know how much they enjoyed those books growing up and make the donation more personal,” Ott said.

School supplies are the key items being collected, but if someone would like to make a donation, Ott suggested gift cards for Wal-Mart or Staples so teachers can get other items they need for their classrooms.

Hurricane victims are getting their homes cleaned out and looking for furniture, clothes and personal items first. School supplies may be the last thing they think of, but the students need them to get back on track.

That’s where the “school-to-school” approach can make a difference, Ott said.

“Our goal is to send as many school supplies as the almost 700 students at Goodman Elementary will need,” she said.

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