Wylie Junior High students collected 100 pairs of jeans and 104 jackets at Christmas for a hurricane-ravaged school in Dickenson.
“Every Christmas we try to do something to help the community,” said 8th-Grade Student Council member Makeda Marquardt. “We had helped Dickenson before, and those kids have been through a lot. We decided to help them out again.”
In September, Wylie Junior High did a massive drive to help McAdams Junior High immediately after Hurricane Harvey tore through the area causing massive devastation. Wylie Behavior Coach Mike Eames’ sister teaches at McAdams, so he knew how badly the school needed help.
When it came time to decide on a Christmas project, the students decided to help McAdams again.
“A lot of times, people go and help when the crisis happens, and they forget later on,” said Student Council sponsor Jasa Ruff. “That’s why this year, we wanted to talk to the kids about continuing with the commitment that we made to them. We felt like it was important to show these people we are still thinking about them.”
The Student Council agreed.
“We all really liked the idea,” said 8th-grade Student Council member Kyal Corbett. “We were all really excited.”
So the Student Council put a call out to their peers for help, and the donations came rolling in.
“We were amazed at the turnout,” Kyal said.
Eames personally delivered the items to McAdams on Christmas Eve.
Kyal said he was glad that Wylie was able to help the students of McAdams.
“If there was a hurricane that hit Abilene, we would want someone to help us out,” he said. “We wanted to treat others the way we wanted to be treated. We were glad to be a part of it.”