On Jan. 12, Haiti changed forever. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes and families in a massive earthquake. Thousands of miles away, students at Watertown Middle School asked what can they do to help.

The seventh- and eighth-grade reading classes really stepped up.

Eighth-graders Arthur C. and Angela C. went to principal Kimo Carter with a small group of students and told him their idea: wristbandswithamessage.com.

The website allowed the students to create rubber wristbands that were blue and red, for the Haitian colors. The wristbands said, “Hope for Haiti January 12, 2010”.

The Middle School gave the reading classes seed money to buy the bracelets. The class also put together a list of places that they thought would help support this cause. Watertown Savings Bank made a very generous donation of $250 and the Watertown firefighters gave $200.

During homeroom time, the seventh- and eighth-grade students sold the bracelets for $3 apiece. The students were so committed to this cause, Mrs. Sullivan, the eighth-grade reading teacher said, “Students were blanketing the hallways like the FBI.”

The reading classes raised more than $1,400, and of the money went to a great cause, Doctors Without Borders.

Angela, an eighth-grader, said, “We couldn’t do this without Ms. Sullivan.”

Arthur said, “It felt really good inside that I put time and effort towards raising money to help Haiti get back on its feet.”

–March 24, 2010–