Lighthouse School graduates fifth gr ade
BY MARGARET CARROLL-BERGMAN INDEPENDENT EDITOR

Photo by CARY HAZELGROVE Fifth grade students from the Nantucket Lighthouse School performed community service in order to graduate. Back row, left to right: Noah Davidson, Morgan Ravenscroft, Henry Blackwell; front row, left to right: Riley Powers, Corrigan Moore, teacher Sandy Mitchell, Lucy Holland and Riley Fusaro

One 11 year old collected shoes for the poor, another volunteered at the MSPCA, a team of boys collected money to buy soccer balls for children in Africa, while another student organized a schoolwide beach clean-up. Each of the seven graduating fifth gr ade st udents fr om th e Na ntucket Li ghthouse School had to perform a community service project in addition to their academic requirements to graduate.

"Each of the students took what they love and translated that passion into an outreach, from cleaning our waterfront, helping care for the island's pets and raising funds for local special needs students to donating shoes or soccer balls to the neediest in the world-at-large," said fifth grade teacher Sandy Mitchell.

"I chose to volunteer at the MSPCA," said Lucy Holland, 11 years old. "I started in the middle of May, but will continue two days a week through the summer. Animals need a lot of attention."

Riley Powers, 11, collected shoes for the Soles for Souls program. The shoes will be distributed to poor children in inner city America.

"I put a bin outside of school for new or used shoes," said Powers. "I'll take anything that is not ripped or worn."

Henry Blackwell and Noah Davidson, both 11 years old, collected $400 to buy soccer balls for children in Africa.

"Most kids in Africa don't have soccer balls," said Blackwell. "They ball up newspaper and put it in a plastic bag and tie it and use that as a ball."

Corrigan Moore, 12, cleaned up Cisco Beach with his mother, Kim.

"We went to Cisco, which is my favorite beach, and collected two bags of trash," he said. "We picked up everything from foam to oil bottles, cans and ropes."

Moore found a ditch filled wi th tr ash, wh ile he wa s policing the beach.

"I wonder why people use the beach as a dump," he said.

Riley Fusaro, road his bike 18 miles, took pledges and collected money for the Nantucket STAR (Sports and Therapeutic Accessible Recreation) Program. The STAR Program develops sports programs for children with special needs.

"I collected $830 for the program," said Fusaro. "I have a lot of relatives."

Morgan Ravenscott, 11, organized a beach cleanup and enlisted the help of the Lighthouse School's staff and fellow students.

"We cleaned up the Jetties Beach, mainly because a lot of people like to swim there," said Ravesncott.

"We mostly found scallop gloves and beer cans." I