Nearly 1,700 items collected for Humane Society
By Robert Cloud
Two fourth-grade students at Waupaca Learning Center organized a collection of nearly 1,700 items for the local Humane Society.
Madisyn Resch-Schroeder and Belle Robinson, who both have pet dogs, said they were inspired by their love of animals.
The two girls put together a proposal and emailed WLC Principal John Erspamer to set up a meeting.
Actually, fourth-grade teacher Nicole Thorne sent the email because the girls were too nervous.
“My fingers were shaking when I tried to send the email to Mr. Erspamer,” Robinson said.
Prior to the meeting, the girls rehearsed their presentation with Thorne, who asked questions and helped them work out some of the proposal’s details.
“He said he’d let us do it,” Resch-Schroeder said, regarding their meeting with the principal.
They made posters, made an announcement and also made a sheet of what items could be donated to the Humane Shelter.
They gave boxes to all the teachers and had a contest, called the Animal Fun Fair, to see which class could collect the most items from March 4-8.
“The No. 1 prize was a pizza party with Mr. Erspamer’s dog,” Resch-Schroeder said. “Mr. Williams’ class won. He’s very competitive.”
Jordan Williams teaches fourth grade.
Thorne’s class won an ice cream party for coming in second place, Andrea’s Fossum Grall’s first-grade class won a cupcake party, and Barb Riggle’s second-grade class won an extra recess for coming in fourth place.
The students collected toys, food, treats, laundry soap, pet beds, hand soap, garbage bags and paper towels, as well as $79 in cash.
On March 13, the donations were loaded into two pickup trucks and a car and delivered to the Waupaca County Humane Society’s shelter.