The staff and families of Creighton's Corner Elemen-
tary School in Ashburn, Virginia, donated an astounding
47 boxes to be distributed at the South Caicos local
schools - containing everything from crayons to Lego
bricks to graph paper to white boards to jump ropes.
SFS Parent Lisa Shamlian, a speech-language
pathologist at Creighton's Corner, led and coordinated
this school-wide effort. She learned about the
devastation on South Caicos from her daughter Leah
Shamlian, an alumna of the TCI Fall '13 program,
and enlisted the help of her school community. In
December, she and her husband drove a van full of
the donated supplies nearly 500 miles to SFS Head-
quarters in Beverly, Massachusetts so that the boxes
could be loaded onto a pallet bound for South Caicos.
The School for Field Studies
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4
HURRICANE AID ON SOUTH CAICOS
In early January 2018, SFS Turks and Caicos Center
Director Heidi Hertler and her team hand delivered
over 50 boxes of school supplies to Iris Stubbs
Elementary School on South Caicos. Sixth graders
were on hand to help to unload, and everyone was
excited to receive the materials.
"Even before we left the school, the books were
being read by the children," Dr. Hertler recounts.
"It was a very moving experience for all of us!"
South Caicos had withstood a direct hit from
Hurricanes Irma and Maria the previous fall, and
the island suffered devastating damage and loss.
The response from the SFS community was
immediate. Over $22,000 was donated to help South
Caicos residents recover from the storm, alongside
boxes of school supplies and gym equipment given
to assist the local schools.
"We are extremely glad that we were able to give a
little help to a place many of us consider a second
home," said Sarah Koth, TCI Summer '17, who
helped organize a donation drive from her class.
Ben Adams, TCI Fall '90, reached out to his fellow
classmates to reconnect and encourage contributions.
"There is no shortage of people needing help around
the world today and we all have finite resources,
however for us, when we think back to how openly
the island and the islanders embraced us, and the
experiences we had, from backgammon, Jamaican
patties by the school, hanging with the ex-Governor,
volunteering at the local elementary school, the slew
of amazing dive experiences and the amazing times
we had together. It makes us want to give back."
"I'm proud of what our school accomplished," she
said, "including cash donations made the day before
we drove up, which covered van rental and gas and
tolls. These funds were donated by teachers who
wanted to help other teachers and kids."