MSDE BULLETIN
Vol. 16, No. 13 – October 21, 2005
Bollman Bridge students applaud the fundraising success.
MSDE announced the Maryland Kids Care campaign on
September 1 as a voluntary statewide effort to encourage
public school students to get involved in helping victims and
their families. The campaign ran through September 30,
although word of donations continue to come into MSDE
offices.
State Superintendent Grasmick tallies up the donations.
MARYLAND SCHOOLS RAISE MORE THAN
$1.3 MILLION FOR HURRICANE RELIEF
Maryland public school students have emptied piggy banks,
baked cakes, and organized a variety of other fundraising
activities to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Although the campaign did not start with a stated goal,
Maryland Kids Care would have surpassed even MSDE’s most
optimistic target.
“This total represents 132 million pennies – that’s 330 tons of
pennies,” Dr. Grasmick told her audience. “It would take 20
tractor trailers to transport that many pennies in weight alone.
That is incredible!”
The result was the largest charitable fundraising campaign in
Maryland public school history. Students raised more than
$1.32 million as part of “Maryland Kids Care: Collecting
Pennies (and More) for the Victims of Hurricane Katrina.”
More than 680 schools across the state participated in the
program.
State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick announced the
gratifying tally this week before an enthusiastic audience at
Bollman Bridge Elementary School in Jessup. Students at the
school were representative of students throughout Maryland:
they gave what they could and encouraged others to do so as
well.
Bollman Bridge Principal Monterey Morell thanks
students.
“One of the most remarkable things about this campaign was
the broad-based response of Maryland public school children,”
Dr. Grasmick said. “Students from urban areas, suburban, and
rural districts all gave what they could to help those affected
by the hurricanes. The resulting donations will help families
throughout Louisiana and Mississippi recover from this
tragedy.”
Schools and school systems gave their donations to the
American Red Cross and other, similar organizations,
presenting checks to a variety of organizations involved in the
relief effort. MSDE tracked the donations, compiling
information from hundreds of schools.
(more)
MARYLAND SCHOOLS RAISE MORE THAN
$1.3 MILLION FOR HURRICANE RELIEF (Cont.)
The Maryland Kids Care campaign is just one of several
hurricane relief efforts, big and small, put together over the
past few weeks. In another effort, for example, students
involved with MSDE’s Division of Rehabilitation Services
raised more than $245 through a bake sale.
Schools in Maryland not only raised funds for Katrina relief
efforts, but also opened their doors to students displaced by the
hurricane. More than 830 students from the Gulf Coast
enrolled in Maryland public schools in the weeks following the
storms and many are currently attending class in the State. 
MSDE and MASC will distribute the kits to storm victims
currently living and studying in Maryland. More than 800
students began taking classes in Maryland public schools in the
weeks after Hurricane Katrina, and that number continues to
grow.
Kinjal Parikh, a student at River Hill High School and the
Health and Social Issues Coordinator for MASC, said that
students from about 20 of the state’s 24 school systems were
involved in the collection effort.
MARYLAND STUDENT LEADERS DONATE
NEEDED SUPPLIES TO STORM VICTIMS
School-aged victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as
their families and their teachers, are the beneficiaries of an
unusual campaign spearheaded by the Maryland Association of
Student Councils (MASC).
Council representatives from across Maryland put together
nearly 1,000 individually packaged supply kits for those
affected by the hurricanes. Separate kits were developed for
elementary school students, middle and high school students,
teachers, and families with school-age children.
MASC representatives presented the kits this month to State
Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick.
Deputy State Superintendent Skipp Saunders and State
Superintendent Nancy Grasmick thank the students.
(Photo courtesy of Karen Crawford, MCPS)
“We all know that if something were to happen to our schools
and our families, we would appreciate the help of other states,”
Parikh said. “Students just wanted to be involved.”
The students collected more than school supplies. The “family
fun packs,” which include games and art supplies, are being
distributed to local school system homeless coordinators to be
shared with families displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The teacher supply kits that have been collected will be sent to
Salmen High School in Slidell, LA. MASC has “adopted” this
school and will be raising funds and supplies at other student
government conferences this year to aid the school in its quest
to reopen later this school year. 
Students packaged dozens of boxes of supplies to help
displaced students, teachers and families. (Photo courtesy
of Karen Crawford, MCPS)
“Maryland student leaders have done a remarkable job of
pulling together these supplies in a very short time,” Dr.
Grasmick said. “The energy these students brought to the
cause is inspiring.”
MSDE BULLETIN
OFFICE OF ACADEMIC POLICY
Nancy S. Grasmick State Education Building
200 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
On the web: www.marylandpublicschools.org
Nancy S. Grasmick, State Superintendent of Schools
Ronald A. Peiffer, Deputy State Superintendent
Bill Reinhard, Editor
MSDE-TV Video: http://media.msde.state.md.us/index.html