Burr students learn compassion, philanthropy at an early age

Soon after the horrific terrorist attacks on 9/11, a Fairfield mother of four was inspired to instill in her children and others a tolerance and a desire to help others. Valerie Luther started a community outreach program at Dwight Elementary School and later worked with teachers and other PTA members to incorporate it into the curriculum at the new Burr Elementary School when her children were redistricted two years ago.

"It was my response to 9/11," Luther said Monday. "I felt we should start to teach our children, while everyone has different religions, ethnicities and ways of doing things, that we're all still human beings. We have the same feelings."

"She's a wealth of enthusiasm and creative ideas," Pam Brennan, vice president of fundraising for the Burr Elementary School PTA, said of Luther. "She's a ball of energy and she has really helped this program to take off, first at Dwight and now at Burr." In the outreach program- whose motto is "children helping children" - students have had coin drives to raise funds for tsunami and Hurricane Katrina victims, and created cards with warm wishes for children in the pediatric wing of Yale New Haven Hospital among their good deeds. There is also an annual coat and mitten collection for inner city families, which Brennan heads. Luther said the program would not be possible without the close relationship of the PTA, teachers and Burr Principal Gary Kass.

"The community outreach program is near and dear to my heart," Kass said Monday.

"We have a wonderful school community that continues to think of the needs of those less fortunate than we are so, for me, it's gratifying to see students, teachers and parents rallying around various causes.

"It's a wonderful way to teach empathy, caring and character education and concern for others," he continued. "Isn't that a wonderful way to get kids involved in the world outside the walls of Burr Elementary School?"

How it works

Burr PTA members Linda Blackwell and Judie Kisseberth co-chair the community outreach program with Luther. They meet with teachers at the beginning of the school year to discuss what worked well last year, and try to find ways to incorporate community service into the curriculum.

Luther said disasters that can happen over the course of a school year - such as the tsunami in Asia and the flooding in New Orleans - also factor in to the relief projects Burr students participate in.

"Last year when the tsunami hit, the third grade class was learning about Asia," Luther said, "so they did a coin drive and wrote cards for victims of the tsunami." Luther said the projects give students a better understanding of the world outside of Fairfield.

This year, first-graders performed chores around their houses to raise money for art supplies that they placed in boxes they had decorated, and parents helped to deliver it all to Webster School in Bridgeport.

In another project, fifth-graders collected small stuffed animals they no longer play with for Friends of Christ in India. The head of the charitable organization, the Rev. David Rowe of Greenfield Hill Congregational Church, delivered the donations to children who never had toys like that before, Luther said.

A new pair of shoes

Burr Elementary School second-grade teacher Mei-Ling Sarin works with the PTA on its outreach program. Sarin said the PTA has helped a program she heads as well. Sarin runs Roots and Shoots at Burr, a program started by famed primatalogist Dr. Jane Goodall. Roots and Shoots members agree to participate in projects promoting care and concern for animals, the environment and the human community, according to the organization's web site.

During the most recent project, Sarin's students raised $4,500 in a walk-a-thon benefiting Simply Smiles, a charitable organization founded by former teacher Bryan Nurnberger of Naugatuck. He founded Simply Smiles to help orphans with special needs living in a children's home in Oaxaca, Mexico.

The money raised by Burr students was used to buy new pairs of shoes for the more than 80 students living in the orphanage. And Sarin said her students learned a little Spanish while creating cards for the orphans.

"Bryan delivered the shoes, took a picture of every single kid with their shoes, and he showed them to my class," Sarin said.

Sarin said Nurnberger shared stories about each child and a funny story of the mayhem that ensued after the busload of children pulled up to the shoe store in Mexico.

Bundling up for winter

Last December, Brennan and fellow PTA member Mary Grella loaded 44 large plastic bags stuffed with coats, mittens and gloves into their vans. Brennan said neither woman could see out of her back window as they drove the clothing to the Bridgeport Rescue Mission.

Brennan, who first started the coat drive at Dwight Elementary School, has been running it for about four years.

"It's unbelievable," Brennan said. "It's truly the easiest activity to run, because people are always looking for something to do with their gently used items and clothing their children grew out of. This is a good way to recycle the clothes and put it to good use." Sarin said the community outreach programs have played a role in establishing the identity of the two-year-old elementary school.

"I think it's really affected the culture of the school," she said. "It's really a caring school. The kids can see how the classroom is directly connected to the community."

"It's great for the children to reach beyond themselves," Brennan said. "We realize how incredibly fortunate we are. Its good for everybody to give back a bit."