German International School students for Haiti

Students at German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV) have set up a friendly competition between themselves, and it all benefits the people of Haiti.

Following an integration of the Haiti disaster into the curriculum, students of the German International School of Silicon Valley in Mountain View have set up a school wide competition to raise funds for the people devastated by the Haiti earthquake. For the competition, the school divided itself up into four groups – Kindergarten through Elementary, Middle School, High School, and the staff –, each earning positive points for their team with pennies, while they put all other denominations into the other teams’ bins to give them negative points.

“Because we come from so many different countries ourselves, we’re concerned about what is happening in Haiti,” said eleventh grade student Young Hea Kim. “When our teachers began discussing Haiti in our class, we realized that we had to do something about it. So we decided to set up this competition,” said eighth grader Guergana Tritchkova.
“We are very proud to say that this event was entirely created and set up by our students,” said Mario Sagastume, Social Science teacher at the school. “The kids’ efforts and dedication have made it nearly impossible for the staff to even break even, and they really love that! It has been a lot of fun for all, and it is for a great cause,” said Ethics teacher Jenny Jungeblut.
Each week the students will decide on a new organization which supports food, health or school programs in benefit of the proceeds of that week. For “Doctors without Borders” over $1000 has been raised during the first week – with three more weeks to come!

The GISSV-German International School of Silicon Valley is a private school with a bilingual (German-English) educational program serving children of all nationalities from Preschool through the 12th grade in the San Francisco Bay Area. Upon graduation, our students earn a German International Abitur, the CA High School Diploma, and take part in AP examinations qualifying them for acceptance into European and American universities. The GISSV is accredited by WASC and the German government and is an active part of a network of 133 German foreign schools worldwide to ensure the highest standards of learning and teaching.