A class of second graders from Kennesaw Elementary School received a public honor last month after turning a class project into an international initiative.
Valerie King’s second-grade advanced learning class studied the water cycle in October 2015. The class read the book “A Long Walk to Water,” from which they learned the value of water in undeveloped Sudan in Africa.
With help from King and school officials, the children worked with the nonprofit Engage Burkina to orchestrate a way to raise money to dig a well in the African Country. Engage Burkina is a faith-based group that works to provide long-term solutions to problems Burkina Faso faces to build a more sustainable nation.
“They were learning about the water cycle and were inspired by the book” Cobb County Water System senior project manager Kathy Nguyen said, “So they decided they wanted to make a difference.”
The second-graders signed up 84 participants — one of which was in England — for a fund-raiser. The event raised $2,200, which the children presented to Engage Burkina Executive Director Paul Richardson on the last day of their school year.
The class was presented with a plaque by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners at a meeting Tuesday. Eleven children from the class—each only about 8 years of age —stood alongside their teacher for the presentation of the honor.
“These kids don’t know the magnitude of what they have created,” King said. “It started with a book and a question: ‘What can we do to help?’
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