Round Meadows donates $1,000 worth of books to sister school

PRICELESS- Students at Round Meadow Elementary School in Calabasas raised funds to purchase $1,000 worth of books for their sister school, Arminta Street Elementary School in North Hollywood. From left, Round Meadow librarian Carole Farhit; Arminta's Principal Julie Kane; Round Meadow Principal Rose Dunn; Round Meadow's community outreach/book fair representative Karen DeJesse; Arminta counselor Susanne Bustamante; and Mathy Wasserman, Round Meadow PFA co-president. Philanthropy is being taught at Round Meadow Elementary School in Calabasas, and students this year have had many opportunities to learn firsthand what it means to care about students beyond their own school gates.

Round Meadow students donated $1,000 worth of books to their sister school, Arminta Street Elementary in North Hollywood.

Students collaborated with Scholastic Book Fairs recently, donating $1 per purchase toward a collection of hardcover books for Arminta Street's library.

According to Mathy Wasserman, Round Meadow's Parent Faculty Association's copresident, Scholastic Book Fairs matched the youngsters' contributions dollar for dollar.

"We are extraordinarily proud of the gestures that the students made to bring in their own money for this fundraiser and pleased that Scholastic offered the matching program to help further our buying power," said Rose Dunn, principal of Round Meadow.

"Students need the opportunity to see that giving a dollar can have an impact on a child not only their age but that lives here in their Los Angeles community," Dunn said.

Community outreach has become a focus at Round Meadow, she said. The school sponsored an Adopt-a-Family program during the holiday season. Each class created a gift basket for an Arminta family identified as in need of support.

Julie Kane, principal of Arminta, and Suzanne Bustamante, school counselor, visited Round Meadow to receive the books. They shared letters of thanks from the recipients of Round Meadow's AdoptaFamily program.

Kane told Round Meadow students that when children face family hardships they often have problems at school. Support from Round Meadow students and their relatives helped bridge such gaps, giving families who were temporarily down on their luck some much-needed hope.

The gift baskets, Kane said, showed Arminta Street students and their families that people do care.

Dunn and Kane have collaborated on several mutually beneficial educational ventures, including reading, sports and arts projects.

"We share the goal that this relationship will not just be about giving and receiving but also about being on common ground with peers," Dunn said.