Best of the Week 2021-2022: Holy Cross Values

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION ORGANIZATIONS TEAM UP TO RAISE MONEY FOR HOLY CROSS SISTER SCHOOL IN HAITI

St. Ed's Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica and French Club teamed up to host a school-wide 3-on-3 soccer tournament and bake sale as a fundraiser for our sister school, Basile Moreau School in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 13 teams signed up for the soccer tournament and played each other over the course of four days. The bake sale equally attracted many students who were eager to try some French pastries such as macarons, croissants or madeleines. The French Club secured donations from some local bakeries such as KB Confections, Blackbird Bakery, Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes, Devine Delights (special thanks to Karen Devine, mother of Andrew Devine ´23) as well as a variety of delicious homemade treats sponsored by our own faculty and staff members. "My favorite part of the bake sale was seeing, even before the sale opened, the amount of people willing to either take the time to make something themselves or to go out of their way to offer something to sell at the bake sale. This showed me some of the large amount of compassion that the St. Ed's community has," says Lukas Kucera '24. Altogether the combined efforts from St. Ed's Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica and French Club raised over $800 in support of Basile Moreau School. "I have been eager to establish a closer relationship with our sister school in Haiti. When I heard about the most recent earthquake that struck right after the political turmoil the country has been through in recent months, my French Club students and I decided that we wanted to help," says French teacher Sabrina Gushue.

Luckily, the school building of Basile Moreau School was not damaged in this earthquake as it has been rebuilt to be earthquake and hurricane resistant after its total collapse in 2010. The money St. Ed's has raised as a community from our previous Eagles on Foot races has already contributed to building this new school building. However, the earthquake that struck Haiti on August 13 killed 2,200 people and over 50,000 homes were destroyed. The Holy Cross parish, Saint Marie-Madeleine in Duchity, has suffered massive damage to its buildings, and the money raised from the soccer tournament and bake sale will be donated through the Holy Cross Mission Center to benefit students who need dire assistance during these difficult times for the country. "I believe this charitable experience gave great value to our students as it was a platform to teach and encourage the act to have courage to support those who need assistance in order to pursue an education," says Ms. Gushue. "My French Club students wrote a personal letter to Basile Moreau School that will accompany the check from the fundraiser. Even if our contribution doesn't compare to the $73.3 million relief fund Unicef is trying to accumulate to rebuild schools and allow children to go back to school in a country where the majority of people already lack access to quality education, we were still able to help out with the tuition cost for some students at Basile Moreau School. I especially enjoyed seeing the students step up and help out at the bake sale while showing genuine compassion for those that are often overlooked. We are also talking about worldwide access to education in IB French and I am glad that the students were able to feel that their actions can make a difference for others."