O Ambassadors Raise Awareness

Friday was the kickoff for the school's O Ambassador's Club, a project led by Oprah's Angel Network and Free the Children, an international organization that connects children to children in need throughout the world.

The students at Shepardson, who are calling themselves the Helping Hands O Ambassadors Club, were assigned to help raise awareness and money for children in Latin America.

"I want to help prevent poverty and help people around the world so no one will ever have to be hungry," second-grader Annie Nay said.

One of the goals is for students to become more globally aware and understand that no matter what age they are, they can make a difference in people's lives, said Shana Bode, club leader and Shepardson parent.

"It gives them a chance to take action and to let them know that you're never too young to change the world, and hopefully this gives them the opportunity to be compassionate for other people in the world," she said.

Rachel Carlson, a sixth-grader who is part of the O Ambassadors Club, said she joined because she wants to make a difference.

"I really wanted to know about the world because we have to take care of it," she said, "I want to help make a difference. Adults aren't the only ones who can make a difference; kids can, too."

Students will focus on four Millennium Development Goals and every two months will focus on a different theme, including poverty, health, education and sustainable development.

For their first project, students are learning about poverty, specifically that one in every three children in the world live on less than $2 a day.

Next week, students will be asking their classmates and teachers to donate $2 to a fund that will go to children in Latin America.

Their goal by the end of the school year is to raise $5,000.

"I wanted to help people who are starving in other places," said Thomas Robillard, a fourth-grader in the club.

Second-grader Kayla Lawson said she hopes others will try to help people in need.

"If you are not a part of any other club, you should still try to make the world a better place," she said. "Even if you don't have people to tell you how to do it, you can do it yourself."

The 30-member club meets Wednesdays after school.

Members of Shepardson Elementary's student council and the O Ambassador's Club congratulate each another on a job well done. The students wrote essays and made presentations about poverty-stricken countries to be read and presented in front of the school's Diversity Assembly on Friday.

Students Allie Cheese and Yukta Dhakal lead a 'peace march' around the school's neighborhood Friday.