Libertyville Students Reach out to Japan

Libertyville students are reaching out to help people in Japan after a devastating earthquake and tsunami through fortune cookies, flower and craft sales, basketball games and origami cranes.  

At , students will donate more than $600 to the American Red Cross for the Japanese Red Cross Disaster Relief, said Rockland third grade teacher Linda Snader, who is know for her creative teaching style. The Student Council raised almost $390 in a Valentine’s Day carnation flower sale, and another $220 in a “Fortunes for Fortune Cookies” drive.

“Students donated money and then received a fortune cookies for making a donation,” Snader said, adding the she and Principal Jean LeBlanc created the project.

“Through this recent disaster, our students realized just how fortunate we really are,” Snader said. “As for the cookie idea, we wanted to have another donation/coin drive for Japan but knew we needed some fun idea/incentive for the students to remember to bring in change and the fortune cookie idea came up as a connection to Japan.”

The Panda Express Gourmet Chinese Food in nearby Vernon Hills donated the cookies for the cause, Snader said.

“At the end of the week, all of the students celebrated the money we raised by enjoying the fortune cookies and our own good fortunes of living in America.”

The Red Cross is helping Japan after an Earthquake and Tsunami hit the country two months ago.         

At , teachers and students will compete against each other in a basketball tournament right after school on May 26.  This event is being organized by the seventh grade Student Council.

“The student council voted for all proceeds to benefit Japan,” said Spanish teacher Sara Raymond, who routinely steps up to help some charity. "They are working hard to raise as much money as we can for the victims."  The school is located at 310 W. Rockland Road, Libertyville.  

In addition to the tournament, Hornet wristbands and baked goods will be for sale.  Spectators can come and watch the event for a $2 entry fee.       

At kindergarten teachers Maggie Barrett and Janine Hogan used the current event to spur students in a special project of making decoupage candleholders. The students glued colored tissue onto more than 200 glass jars and sold them at a school Open House.

“We raised more than $500 and the students were thrilled,” said Barrett, who is known for using current events in her classroom and linking them to a student project that makes the students think globally. “It was way more than we expected to raise.  Everyone at Butterfield was so generous.  Students from the other grade levels came down to our wing with their parents to buy jars.  We completely sold out of our jars during Open House and  there were still people coming down to buy more.  It was truly amazing.”

The money is being donated to the American Red Cross for the Japanese Disaster Relief.

gifted education teacher Emily Maki and the school’s fourth grade class made 900 origami cranes as part of a fundraiser, “Paper Cranes for Japan.” The goal was to make 50 cranes.

For each crane received, the Bezos Family Foundation made a donation of $2 per crane received to Architecture for Humanity’s reconstruction efforts with local designers and builders in Japan. The incredible outpouring of support inspired a $400,000 donation from the Bezos Family Foundation (doubling its initial gift). The cranes are expected to be woven into a future art installation in Japan — a symbolic gift from students around the globe to Japanese youth.  The crane project ended April 15.