Battle of Bands, Pie Baking
Katrina Relief Evolves
Into Eclectic Approach
By Alex Holachek
(October 12, 2005)
The Hurricane Katrina relief project has evolved into an
eclectic approach, pursuing varying avenues in its attempt to aid
victims of
the natural disaster in the Gulf Coast. The school’s donation of five
currently
unused trailer classrooms to a school in the town of Brusley, Louisiana
is one
major campaign. The dismantled trailers are to be filled with the
scores of toiletry
items yielded by the recent school-wide teacher advisor drive as well
as banners
with messages from GM students, which are currently in front of the
main office
for students to sign and write best wishes. The precise date of the
dispatch of
the trailers is
not known, as it is
difficult to anticipate the length of time it will take to dismantle
them.
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Another school-sponsored relief activity is the November 14 “Band
Jam,” which will feature five bands and several solos. Students are
currently
in the process of looking for corporate sponsors for the concert.
Revenue from
ticket and concession sales could possibly go to the “House in a Box”
program
that assistant principal Mr. Tim Guy is pursuing, which he says is
“absolutely
the direction in which we are heading.”
Uncertainty and logistical problems have heretofore created
difficulties in planning the nonetheless “extremely likely” project of
construction of a house to be sent south to provide a new home for a
family
deprived of shelter by the hurricane.
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Some of the thousands of
toiletry products collected by Masonites in their teacher advisory
groups await
delivery to a high school in Brusley, Louisiana. (Photo by Emily
Sanders)
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Also noteworthy is sophomore Ben Keens’s
“Hundred Pie
Project,” in which the Mason sophomore will put his culinary skills to
work
baking and selling 100 apple pies at the Falls Church Farmer’s Market
on
October 22. Several friends will assist the budding chef in baking 100
pies at
L’academie De Cuisine in Gaithersburg prior to the sale, with proceeds
likely
to benefit the House in a Box program.
The Falls Church School System, the PTA, the
Student Council
Association, and community volunteers are sponsoring a continuing drive
for
much needed toiletry products as well as “Project Backpack,” a
collection of
backpacks filled with school supplies for children in the Gulf Coast
area. Drop
off sites for both drives include Mary Ellen Henderson’s front lobby.
