From Southside High School

The Math Club of Southside High School hosted a guest speaker, Hannah Caton, from the Ronald McDonald House after school recently. Four members attended the presentation. Caton is the development coordinator for Ronald McDonald House. She told the students the history of the Ronald McDonald House as well as explaining how the House is run in Greenville. She described the facilities to the students, including the expansions of the House in Pitt Memorial Hospital. The students and staff asked questions to help them understand the services that the House provides the families of sick or injured children. The house on Moye Boulevard can accommodate 21 families at once, while the house in the hospital can accommodate six families.

Southside High School Math Club advisors Tina Petty and Lisa Johnson recently took on several events to help the Ronald McDonald House. They sold 19 Ronald McDonald House T-shirts as a fundraiser. Each purchased shirt paid for a family to spend one night at the Ronald McDonald House.  Faculty, staff and students wore their shirts to school on May 6, as part of “Sport a Shirt.”

During a club day, Math Club members made wreaths to be placed on all of the doors of the rooms of the Ronald McDonald House. These wreaths were made up of the students’ hands cut out of construction paper with decorations and uplifting sayings on them. The members donated 21 wreaths made of assorted colors to help decorate the house.

In addition to the T-shirt drive and door decorations, Math Club members and Southside staff collected items from the Ronald McDonald House wish list to help the house run its operations throughout the summer months. Math club members made it a competition between students and staff. The students won this competition by bringing in 257 items compared to the staff total of 73. Caton took these wish list items and door decorations back with her the day of the presentation.

The club is continuing to collect can tabs. Anyone wishing to make a can tab donation can drop tabs off at Southside High School, Chocowinity Primary School, Chocowinity Middle School, S.W. Snowden Elementary School and Mike’s Mini-Mart of Chocowinity.