October 23rd, 2017 by WCBC Radio

The staff and students at Bel Air Elementary School recently ”adopted” Mike Davis Elementary School in Collie County, Naples, Florida, and collected school supplies and toiletries for them. This particular area was hit especially hard by Hurricane Irma in early September just as school was opening for the 2017-2018 school year.  Many students lost their homes and basic necessities, so new school supplies were not high on the list of priorities.  Most schools remained closed for nearly two weeks after the original start date while clean-up efforts took place.

During the storm, Mike Davis Elementary School was used as an evacuation shelter, and full capacity was reached. After the storm, principals and district staff worked to identify students and families most impacted by Irma, and determined what their needs were. 

This donation project was spearheaded by Tina Tysinger, Speech Language Pathologist at Bel Air Elementary School. “Some of our classroom teachers taught about hurricanes and how children and families were impacted by the storm", said Ms. Tysinger.  "Our children were coming to school with new clothes and school supplies and they quickly realized that many other children lost everything in the storm.  While numerous new school supplies were sent to the school by the student’s families, we also had students who donated their own pencils and crayons right out of their desk so that others could have them.  This is such a testimony to empathy that children have for other children.”