“I went to Thomas Oliver with our ROTC program, who had 16 computers they weren’t using. Then, we contacted UD, Wright State and Sinclair and they donated pencils, paper and other school supplies. I even called Morehead College, and we stopped there on the way down to pick up supplies.”
Slightam, Oliver and the UD students did the legwork, items were collected and packed, and five students were selected to help with delivery.
“It was all privately funded,” said Slightam. “Each of the students paid a hundred dollars, which was matched by teachers. We rented two vans, left on Dec. 5, spent Dec. 6 at East High School with their students and staff, and came back Dec. 7.
“We wanted it to be an educational experience, and it was; we paired students and they attended classes. We merged inner city kids — most who hadn’t traveled much — with Appalachian kids, and they found out they and their schools were very similar.”
Senior Kamal Shakhmandarov, a native Russian, had a unique experience when he visited a social studies class studying Russia.
“They were studying communism in Russia, and Mr. Slightam put me on the spot,” he said. “It was kind of tough, but I told them what I knew — they asked questions, and I answered them.”
On their return, Shakhmandarov created a video of the experience that made comparisons showing how similar the schools and students were, and a copy was sent to East High School. “The principal sent me a letter of thanks, and was having the entire student body watch it,” said Slightam.
The five participating students — seniors Halie Martin, Jasmine Mellon, and Shakhmandarov, junior Justin Ankeney, and sophomore Faith Lewis — added some East High students as Facebook friends and plan to keep in touch.
“I’m going to do it again next year, in another spot,” said Slightam. “Merging urban and rural kids was wonderful, and the kids thought it was cool.”
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