GHS Club Help Ghana Students With School Essentials

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Students in Ghana holding their backpacks full of school supplies, which were sent by the Education For All Club at Greenwich High School. (contributed photo).

By Richard Kaufman

Inspired by the book, I Am Malala, a powerful memoir about Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani native who stood up for her right to an education, Greenwich High School junior Gillian Gordon is hoping to help others achieve a sound education as well.

Two years ago during her freshman year, along with classmate Sam Chabot, Gordon founded the Education For All Club, at GHS. The mission of the club is to support mainly girls’ education in Ghana by providing students with essential school supplies. In Ghana, girls are often held back or pulled from school to work or take care of duties at home.

“[I Am Malala] kind of put things into perspective about our education system and the comparison from here across the world,” Gordon said. “We also thought about how there’s an abundance of school supplies or things in Greenwich and we could use that in order to benefit other groups of people.”

Gordon reached out to a family friend who runs a nonprofit organization called CPAS Ghana, which provides the means for girls to get the schooling they need. The Education For All Club donates school supplies to those girls. 

Since the club’s inception in 2016, it has grown to about 15-20 full-time members, with even more participants helping throughout the year. The club has shipped thousands of dollars worth of school supplies in each of the past two years to over 140 students, in total, at three to four schools in the Ghana area.

The club is now preparing for a third shipment of supplies this summer.

From June 12 through June 21, the Education For All supply drive will take place at GHS, and all three of the town’s middle schools, Eastern, Western and Central. Boxes for collection will be set up during school hours.

Residents are urged to donate unused or slightly used materials such as notebooks, pencils, pens, markers, crayons, sharpies, rulers, lined paper, calculators, erasers, protractors, compasses and graphing paper. The supplies are packaged in drawstring backpacks for each student.

The Education For All Club focuses mostly on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) supplies.

“STEM is an evolving field that’s becoming more important as our society is relying more on technology. The fact that we can help [students in Ghana] in that area is really important because it will help them in their studies and in the future for their career,” said club member and GHS junior, Emily Miller.

The club has held numerous fundraising events, with most of the proceeds going towards cargo-shipping costs, which Gordon said are expensive. On July 3 from 4 to 8 p.m., at Chipotle on Greenwich Avenue, portions of food sales will benefit the club and its mission. Patrons should mention that they’re supporting the Education For All Club when ordering their food.

Emily Miller (left) and Gillian Gordon (right) at a fundraising event for the Education For All Club (contributed photo).

For Gordon, and the other members of the club, giving back and helping to enrich the lives of others in far corners of the world is heartwarming. 

Miller said she wanted to join the club because she understands not everyone can live and go to school in a town like Greenwich.

“I have an appreciation for how lucky I am to have this education here in Greenwich,” Miller said. “I wanted to help in any way I could.”

The club has received photos of smiling students holding their school supplies from the past two years, which makes the work and fundraising all worth it. 

“It’s hard to put into perspective at first, but when you see the pictures that come back and you hear the stories…they’re so appreciative,” Gordon said. “It makes you feel really good. That’s what we should be doing with the extra supplies we have. It makes me feel better that we’re actually making use of the abundance of things we have here. It’s pretty gratifying.”

Education For All hopes to send the school supplies to Ghana later this summer before September. School begins in Ghana in October. 

For more information on the Education For All Club and how to help or donate, email eduforallinc@gmail.com, or search for @educationforallinc.

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