2017 has been quite a year for PA Leadership’s University Scholars Program, with students in grades 6-12 accomplishing so much both academically and personally. We recently took some time to reflect on what an amazing year it has been for our honors college-preparatory program, which offers a specialized accelerated curriculum, by either attending the on-site/online blended program in West Chester or participating in the completely virtual program for statewide students. Over the next few weeks, we will be publishing posts in a series called “USP: A Year in Review.” Below, you will find the first post in the series talking about a group of USP students’ efforts to make the world a better place.
Several PALCS University Scholars students have envisioned a better world and have been working in various ways to help others. We are very proud of the following students and their efforts:
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- Juliana Chen, Class of 2018, sponsored a collection of gently used purses called “Purses for Poverty.” The mission of Purses for Poverty is to aid in the fight against human trafficking around the world. The purses will be sold at fundraisers and the proceeds will go to organizations like She is Safe, Not for Sale, and the End it Movement.
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- Becca Suchower, Class of 2018, collected Halloween costumes for kids. This project was started in her freshman year in high school. According to Becca, “Halloween is a chance to be creative and connect with family and neighbors.” Becca wanted to collect costumes so that all children could experience the event. Over the years, she has collected over 100 costumes through neighbors, friends, and our school. She donates them to the Home of the Sparrow, which is a local organization that helps women and children.
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- The MSA (Muslim Student Association), led by Kashaf Zaman, Class of 2018 and Saman Zaman, Class of 2019, held a bake sale for victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Many students brought baked goods to school to sell, and they raised over $100! They are donating it to Rotary International.
- Megan Rabin and Maddie Moffitt, both Class of 2018, run a project called Helping Her. The goal of this project is to collect feminine hygiene products for homeless and disadvantaged women in the Philadelphia area. Helping Her has been able to donate thousands of feminine products over the past 3 years to four major organizations that seek to help these women. Each year, they have held a fall drive and a spring drive for a different organization. For this year’s fall drive, the goal is to collect at least one thousand feminine products to donate to Women Against Abuse, an organization in Philadelphia that helps victims of domestic abuse.
- Mario Brown, Class of 2020, sponsored a Tetris tournament to raise money for USP clubs. The winner was Jacob Nagle, Class of 2018, and they chose to donate the money from the tournament to the USP Interact Activity Group.
- Edith Bradley, Class of 2020, was recently moved by a film she saw at the 2017 West Chester University Latino Communities Conference. Edith organized a viewing of the movie I Learn America, which is about five English Language Learners and their journeys in an American High School in New York City. The viewing took place on December 1st in the AIC library.
Join us in commending these students in the generous effort to lend a helping hand and encourage them to continue! We are incredibly proud of each of them for working to reshape the world we live in and have a positive effect on one another! You are true leaders!
