By Laura Lane Mervosh
Shortly after the tragedy, President Bush appealed to the children of America to send a dollar to the children of Afghanistan. He also suggested that they write letters to Muslim children throughout the world.
Fifth-grade Bowling Green teacher Roni Greenberger wanted to have her students participate in the President's challenge. She saw the letter-writing campaign as an excellent avenue to strengthen literacy
among her students. However, she found it difficult to commit to the monetary aid for the Afghan children. Greenberger couldn't stop worrying about the academic future of Nicole DeAngelis.
Nicole was the only graduate or current student of Bowling Green who lost a parent on Sept. 11, she said. I spoke to two of my fellow teachers, Ms. Milgrim and Ms. Bartoszek, and we decided that instead of sending money to Afghan children, we would take care of one of our own. We decided to help Nicole.
Greenberger didn't want to put any added stress on the community. She was aware that many had recently lost jobs, and others had already committed money to the various WTC charities. Nevertheless, she felt that any money collected would help Nicole.
Before she began to collect money, Greenberger first sent a letter home to Bowling Green parents. In it, the idea of collecting money to help one of our own was discussed. And parents were told that any
donation would be appreciated.
For two weeks, the students from the Greenberger, Milgrim and Bartoszek's fifth-grade classes went to each classroom to collect the money. They not only walked away with generous donations, but also gleaned many lessons from the experience.
One of Ms. Greenbergers student's, Daniel Schachter, donated some of his personal money toward the fund.
It felt great doing nice things for people and helping out, he said. The fifth-grader believed that going to the classrooms to collect money each morning helped him to learn how to deal with social
situations. In addition, he discovered that sometimes his communication skills needed sharpening.
I had to learn how to better communicate the idea and also to have a little patience when my approach didn't work, he said.
The children worked in teams of three. By the time they were done, they had collected roughly $3,000.
The DeAngelis family was touched by the outpouring of support in the community.
My daughter didn't even have Ms. Greenberger when she went to Bowling Green, Patricia DeAngelis said. She thinks that this is so wonderful. It makes her feel special and cared about.
Three other middle-school students also joined the elementary children. One of them, Nicole Brennan, could have been in the same situation. Her father worked in Tower Two on the 104th floor, but he was unable to go to work on Sept. 11. After the tragedy, she spent much time along with classmates Diana Barone and Danielle Kowalsky selling homemade red, white and blue ribbons, eventually collecting about $800. The girls decided to contribute the money to the Nicole DeAngelis college fund.
Patricia DeAngelis said that her daughter had always planned to go to college. She wanted to pursue a career as an elementary-school teacher. The fund will now make this possible.
We find this so very touching, Ms. DeAngelis said. More than the money itself, it's the idea behind it, wanting to be there for each other, the helping and the support.
The check will be presented at the January board of education meeting. It will be handed directly to Nicole DeAngelis.
How to help
To contribute to the Nicole DeAngelis college fund, make checks payable to: College Bound Funds, noting in the memo "FBO Nicole DeAngelis," and send it to Ms. DeAngelis at Bowling Green School, 2340 Stewart Ave. Westbury, NY 11590, or call Ms. Greenberger at (516) 876-7490.
