Shady Side Academy is partnering
with Paul Hendershot, son of faculty members Carol and Buddy Hendershot, to
support the education of children in Haiti. Paul, an Army veteran, is volunteering with the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, a Pittsburgh-based organization located in Deschapelles, Haiti.
Paul has spoken with many Haitian children were orphaned or impacted by the recent earthquake and have no financial means to return to school. He is dedicated to helping these children continue their education. The Haitian educational
initiative is intended to provide funds so these children can return to
school. Realizing that education
is essential to both the individual and the reconstruction of the country, Shady Side Academy
is helping to support this effort through fundraisers at all three schools.
At the Senior School (grades 9-12), students will be
collecting contributions and selling snack items during intermission at performances of the musical Guys and Dolls on March 12, 13 and 14.
At the Middle School (grades 6-8), a portion of the proceeds of the Form I & II (7th & 8th grade) dance on Friday, March 12, will support Hendershot's work.
The Junior School (grades PK-5) is holding a dress-down day on Friday, March 12. Students are encouraged to donate $1 and are asked to wear red or blue clothing, the colors of Haiti.
Future fundraising efforts are also being planned to support this worthy initiative.
Paul spoke to SSA students about his relief work in Haiti at a Senior School assembly on Monday, March 1, and at a Junior School assembly on Tuesday, March 9. His mother, Carol Hendershot, is a first-grade teacher at the Junior School, and his father, Buddy Hendershot, is an English teacher at the Senior School.
Shady Side Academy students have been raising money and supplies for Haiti since an earthquake devastated the country in January 2010. On Jan. 22, students, faculty and staff raised $7,317 for Haitian disaster relief through dress-down day fundraisers at all three campuses. In January and February, Middle School students collected 70 buckets of personal hygiene items to be delivered to Haiti by The Brother’s Brother Foundation, through a sixth grade service project called “Help Haiti Heal.”
Read more about Paul Hendershot's work in Haiti in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.
