Baldwin High School's Indian Trails newspaper staff recently collected snacks to send to troops in Afghanistan. The donations were not sent to the soldiers stationed, but rather to soldiers out on the wire fighting the war.
Students got involved after Baldwin teacher and Indian Trails newspaper sponsor, Mrs. Ashley, saw a flyer advertising the snack collection at her gym. The flyer was made by community member Priscilla Lashley, who was trying to collect items such as cereal, sweet snacks, candy, beef jerky and most importantly, baby wipes, for troops. Mrs. Ashley knew her newspaper staff would be able to help.
Staff members hung signs and fliers all over campus advertising the snack collection. Many teachers offered students extra credit for bringing in snacks.
Teacher, Mr. Cathey asked people at his church to donate, and he collected snacks, powdered drinks, and hand and baby wipes.
"I was in the military, and from experience I know that these items are highly appreciated. We should do it again," said Mr. Cathey.
Many students brought in bags of snacks. Junior Danielle D. was one of those students. Danielle took a flier home and her mother took it to her job at Comcast. There, they collected bags of snacks and baby wipes.
"It felt good to do something nice for the troops," said Danielle. "My family was happy to help."
Mrs. Lashley is very appreciative of what the Baldwin Indians have collected.
"When I saw the amount of snacks Baldwin collected my heart just filled with every emotion imaginable," she said. "What these students did was nothing short of amazing. Such a wonderful, generous, caring bunch they all are."
Baldwin Language Arts teacher Debbie Ashley received an email from a soldier in Afghanistan thanking the students for the snacks, and telling how much the troops enjoyed them. Many of the soldiers read the story featured in Indian Trails.
Written contributions from Baldwin journalism students Courtney Lowe and Courtney Hendrix.
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