Jordan High raises money to build school in Mexico

Jordan High School has teamed up with Brighton High in an effort to raise enough money to build a school in Chiapas, Mexico through a fundraiser called ‘Foundation Escalera.’

The foundation is a non-profit organization that brings education to children in Mexico. “We’re trying to help them out by building a school that is more centralized,” Spanish teacher Matt Bell said.

Many children have to walk miles to get to school, and most do not have the luxury of getting their education in a building with a roof over their heads.

“Their schools are outdoors and it gets really cold, so it’s hard for them to get decent education,” DECA President Kalin Huntsman said. “We hope that we can raise money because it’s a really great cause.”

The goal for the fundraiser is $42,000 from both schools combined. Each school is hosting its own activities to get students to donate.A benefit concert has been held at Jordan, where students put on a talent show to raise money.

“We raised about $1,000 from the benefit concert and $1,600 from the stomp we did, so we’re already doing pretty good,” Student Body President Emran Behashti said.

 Jordan hosted a carnival Nov. 14 where tickets were purchased to jump in bounce houses, buy food and play games. All of the food was donated by Chick-fil-A, Little Caesar’s Pizza, Firehouse Subs and cupcakes were made by the school’s cooking class.

Shop.com franchise business owner, Todd Libby, had laptops occupied with people signing up for the website exclusively set up for this fundraiser.

“Thirty-five percent of the proceeds from sales will go toward this fundraiser,” Libby said. “And these are consumable products that everyone uses anyway, so why not purchase products you need and know that you are supporting a good cause?”

The fundraiser for Escalera will continue throughout the school year. Donations will be made by students in classes and T-shirts and bracelets will be sold to contribute.

“It’s really great what we’re doing. We have the chance to give back to people who really need it, so we want to take advantage of that,” said Elizabeth Alhamid, a junior at Jordan. “We don’t know what it’s like to go without schooling or have to worry about getting to school every day. Sometimes we take advantage of what we have.”