The Buckley School community rallied big during the weeks after super-storm Sandy hit the East Coast, participating in a number of recent community service events that drew big numbers in donation dollars and participants.
Middle and Upper School students got involved in Jeans Day, which allowed participants to wear jeans to school in exchange for a minimum $5 donation toward the Red Cross Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. Seventh grader Maxi Coulter thought of the idea and his parents offered to match the donations of the entire grade level. This sparked another 11 grade-level sponsors to match donations, ultimately resulting in an amazing $11,042 in donations for this cause.
Generous community members also supported Red Cross Sandy efforts through participation in the Buckley blood drive, which resulted in 53 pints of blood collected. At an average blood drive on campus, Buckley normally collects approximately 35 pints, but when blood drives on the East Coast were cancelled due to the storm, students, faculty, and staff members rallied to help.
Students also helped in other ways. Seniors Julianne Goldmark and Emily Matson, creators and owners of online accessory shop Emi-Jay.com, donated a generous $5,000 toward Sandy relief. In addition, Lower School students took home UNICEF donation boxes over the Thanksgiving holiday, bringing in more than $1,400.
“I was really touched by how the school came together to support victims of Sandy, especially the families that sponsored grade-level donations, which was a first for us,” said Chris Braunschweiger, director of community service. “And the blood drive blew out all previous numbers. It’s great.”
Founded in 1933, The Buckley School is a K-12 co-educational independent school in Sherman Oaks. Its serene canyon campus is home to 790 students and a vibrant, creative and challenging learning community. The Buckley 4-Fold Plan of Education blends elements of traditional structure with a non-traditional philosophy. We espouse whole-child education – a deeply inter-connected program of academics, arts, physical development and moral education – adopt current teaching methodologies and educational technologies, and infuse our entire program with creativity, critical thinking, global and multicultural perspectives and 21st century learning principals. And yet, we believe this style of education is most effective within a more structured environment and with strong emphasis on character development; that personal traits, including self-discipline and self-reliance, are crucial to realizing individual potential and creativity.
