After learning about the thousands of undereducated women in Africa, Zachary Wroblewski’s 7th period class of 6th graders decided to take action. 

The class came together and assembled a fundraiser for She’s the First, an organization dedicated to women’s education in countries where people discriminate heavily against women. The 7th period collected money and donations from every homeroom so She’s the First could buy textbooks for girls in need.

The fundraiser was a huge undertaking, spreading to all three divisions thanks to the help of the Glenn Institute. The students put a lot of work into researching and creating presentations for different group homerooms and Monday Morning Meetings for the fundraiser. 

Each textbook costs $3, and with the more than $2,000 they raised, they provided funds for over 600 textbooks. 6th grader Ailsa Groves is proud that they will have such an impact. “That could supply a school for ten years,” she says.

According to Wroblewski, the class spearheaded the fundraiser with minimal involvement from him. Aside from contacting the Glenn Institute and setting up a time in Monday Morning Meeting, Wroblewski let his class take charge. Wroblewski gives full credit to his students. “The fundraiser was entirely driven by them and they deserve the credit,” he says.

The class achieved their goals in part by the out-of-class work from dedicated students. Groves spent hours working on this fundraiser. “I probably spent thirty minutes to an hour a day for five days across each step [of the fundraiser],” she says. 

The students decided that they needed a fundraiser after learning about gender inequality issues in Africa. They discussed many different organizations, like the Women’s Global Empowerment Fund, but ultimately landed on She’s the First. 

However, this fundraiser wasn’t all sunshine and roses. After learning about the project, some students across different grades made dismissive comments about the fundraiser and organization, completely misunderstanding the idea of gender inequality and failing to consider the experiences of people from impoverished backgrounds.  

In Wroblewski’s Monday Morning Meeting devotional on February 9, he tasked the student body with showing more empathy. “I heard comments like ‘This is a dumb fundraiser,’ ‘this is useless,’ and ‘why isn’t there a He’s the First fundraiser?’” he said. “Maybe it comes from a place of insecurity, or apathy, but it’s an incredible waste of the gift you’ve been given.”