GMS donates to Japan Relief Fund

Greencastle Middle School recently donated $828.61 to the Japan Relief Fund of the Japan-America Society of Indiana. Present for the donation were, from left, guidance counselor Kathrine Asbell, ENL and Spanish teacher Veronica Bryant, tech ed teacher C.J. Shields, students Asuka Nagayama, Ichiro Mozawa and Yuji Mozawa, principal Shawn Gobert, student Shyo Takezawa, Tamayo Fukumoto and Theresa Kulczak of the Japan-America Society and ENL instructional assistant Mikiko Obara.

For teachers and students, the Friday before spring break is often spent counting the minutes until school ends.

This was not the case at Greencastle Middle School on Friday, March 18. Instead, students spent the last period of the day before spring break walking for Japan. Before the charity event, Mrs. Mikiko Obara, accompanied by several GMS students of Japanese descent, made a video announcement about the devastation in Japan.

Students were told they could help those in need by donating $1 to spend the last period before spring break walking in the gym and $2 to walk and listen to music.

The student response was overwhelming. Several hundred students were walking in the gym, and as the period concluded, math teacher Mike VanRensselear played his guitar and led students in a rendition of "We Are the World."

Thanks to the generous donations by the students, faculty and staff of GMS $828.61 was raised for the ongoing relief efforts in Japan.

On April 15, GMS donated the money to the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, which was set up by the Japan-America Society of Indiana to assist with the ongoing efforts in Japan following last month's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

The Japan-America Society is a statewide not-for-profit bridging Indiana and Japan. Local industries Chiyoda USA Corp. and Heartland Automotive are both members. Additionally, Duke Energy, Old National Bank, PNC Bank and Vectren are members.