Just seconds after the bell rang for lunch, about 70 students made their way through the crowded hallways and filed into a classroom in the D wing of Alameda High School (AHS). Neatly laid out on the tables was an array of plastic bags, writing utensils, and water filters ready to be packed and sent away to those in need.
This was the scene at the AguaEmpowers club meeting during lunchtime a couple of weeks ago. Once club founder and President Tonia Chen got the attention of the students and the conversations to die down, she announced that the purpose of the meeting was to assemble 200 sanitation kits to be sent to the School of St. Jude in Tanzania, Africa, whose students largely lack access to clean water at home. The volunteers would be tasked with packing water filters—provided to the club at a discount by LifeStraw—and instruction manuals into the bags along with hand-writing friendly notes in Swahili to accompany each kit.
As the event kicked off, there was a flurry of activity. Students hopped from station to station grabbing materials, scribbling notes, and bringing water filters to the front of the classroom, where AguaEmpowers officers were doing quality control plus boxing and logging the number of kits each student completed. Many of the students chatted with friends about food, grades, and college applications as they worked.
“Guys, there’s no more water filters!” one student shouted after all 200 kits had been packed just 20 minutes later. Shortly after, the club’s vice president, AHS senior Max Fry, announced that he would be heading to the post office to send the sealed package off to Tanzania.
Devin, a sophomore at AHS, packed seven kits on his own. He said that AguaEmpowers has given him the opportunity to learn how to organize and work with people his age.
“It’s nice to do something that affects the community,” said Devin. “I want to reach further out and get out of my comfort zone.”
Krystle, a first-year student at AHS, added, “I want to help others around the world. I have free time, and I want to spend it caring for others.”
Dr. Carolyn Cover-Griffith, who teaches Environmental Science in the classroom and serves as the club’s mentor, looked on the scene with pride…