By DANI BARKLEY
Chief Accountability Officer, Warsaw Community Schools

Janna Simcoe’s fifth grade class, along with the Jefferson Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball teams and cheerleaders, surprised and blessed Joye Andrew, a first grade teacher, on Friday, Dec. 19, with more than $5,000 toward her family’s ongoing adoption efforts, which are focused on getting the Andrews’ two Haitian children, Ben and Lucy, home to Indiana.

The students voluntarily collected donations, as well as pledges for free throws, along with receiving a matching gift of $1,500 from an anonymous donor. The children themselves raised $3,800 in one week.

All who witnessed the event were humbled to see Jefferson students living WCS’s mission of enriching the lives of others, especially at Christmastime, when so much of a child’s focus can be on gift-receiving. The students were genuinely excited to help the Andrew family in this tangible way.