Students at Small High School Raise Money for Neighbors
2021-07-10
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1There are 13 graduates this year from Isleboro Central, a small high school on an island near the U.S. state of Maine.
2Most of them live on Isleboro, which has a year-round population of about 700.
3The school's graduating class usually takes a trip to a far away country to celebrate.
4The 2021 class was considering a visit to Greece or South Korea.
5The students did jobs around the small island to raise money for their travel costs.
6They earned about $8,000 from their work.
7But, when it looked like international travel would be difficult because of COVID-19, they considered a trip within the U.S.
8In the end, they went nowhere.
9Instead the students decided to donate their money to help their neighbors on Isleboro.
10They gave $5,000 to the Island Community Fund, an aid group on Isleboro.
11The students said they had seen many people on the island dealing with job losses and financial problems after the coronavirus health crisis struck.
12It would have seemed, in student Liefe Temple's words, "weird and definitely wrong" for them to take the traditional trip when people were suffering.
13The money helped islanders feed their families and meet other needs.
14"It felt really good to do that with our money, to give it back to the people who gave it to us," Temple said.
15It was a good feeling for the Island Community Fund, as well.
16Fred Thomas is the president.
17"Their decision demonstrated an awareness of the hardship in their community and a willingness to do something about it," he said of the young people.
18The students also gave some money to help pay unexpected costs for the island's vaccination operations.
19The students got a kick out of giving money so their teachers could get the jab.
20The students still have some money left.
21They are thinking about what to do with it.
22Olivia Britton is one of the students.
23She said it seemed "obvious" to give the money back to the people living on the island.
24Britton's mother, Megan, is a doctor.
25She said people sometimes criticize young people.
26But, "this really flies in the face of that."
27I'm Dan Friedell.
1There are 13 graduates this year from Isleboro Central, a small high school on an island near the U.S. state of Maine. Most of them live on Isleboro, which has a year-round population of about 700. 2The school's graduating class usually takes a trip to a far away country to celebrate. The 2021 class was considering a visit to Greece or South Korea. The students did jobs around the small island to raise money for their travel costs. They earned about $8,000 from their work. 3But, when it looked like international travel would be difficult because of COVID-19, they considered a trip within the U.S. 4In the end, they went nowhere. 5Instead the students decided to donate their money to help their neighbors on Isleboro. They gave $5,000 to the Island Community Fund, an aid group on Isleboro. 6The students said they had seen many people on the island dealing with job losses and financial problems after the coronavirus health crisis struck. 7It would have seemed, in student Liefe Temple's words, "weird and definitely wrong" for them to take the traditional trip when people were suffering. 8The money helped islanders feed their families and meet other needs. 9"It felt really good to do that with our money, to give it back to the people who gave it to us," Temple said. 10It was a good feeling for the Island Community Fund, as well. Fred Thomas is the president. 11"Their decision demonstrated an awareness of the hardship in their community and a willingness to do something about it," he said of the young people. 12The students also gave some money to help pay unexpected costs for the island's vaccination operations. The students got a kick out of giving money so their teachers could get the jab. 13The students still have some money left. They are thinking about what to do with it. 14Olivia Britton is one of the students. She said it seemed "obvious" to give the money back to the people living on the island. Britton's mother, Megan, is a doctor. She said people sometimes criticize young people. But, "this really flies in the face of that." 15I'm Dan Friedell. 16David Sharp wrote this story for the Associated Press. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 17What do you think about how the students spent their money? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 18____________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20graduate - n. a person who has earned a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university 21weird - adj. unusual or strange 22awareness - n. knowledge of a situation 23hardship - n. pain and suffering 24obvious - adj. easy for the mind to understand or recognize 25fly in the face - idiom to oppose or contradict a popular thought or idea 26jab - n. an injection of medicine into your body with a needle