Published May 15, 2008 12:15 am - Milton Area Senior High School
social studies teacher Michael Conn was ecstatic as he accepted a
check for $335 from Ryan Wolfe.
Team tops $30,000 goal
Teachers, students, community raise money to build school
By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item
MILTON -- Milton Area Senior High School social studies teacher
Michael Conn was ecstatic as he accepted a check for $335 from Ryan
Wolfe.
That check, presented Tuesday night, brought total donations to Team
Cambodia to $30,635, surpassing the $30,000 goal set for the fund
drive in December. The money will be used to build and staff a school
in Cambodia.
The fund actually went over the top on Friday, when a benefit concert
was held in the high school auditorium, but the additional money is
welcome nonetheless, Conn said.
The check Wolfe gave to Conn represents the proceeds from "Milton
Idol," a contest held at the Jungle, the teen club at the Milton Moose
Family Center.
"We raised these funds in four months and 26 days," Conn said. "There
were a lot of people who were skeptical that we'd be able to raise
this kind of money in Milton."
"I'm proud of the kids, and I'm proud of the community," he continued.
"This project has had a galvanizing effect."
Conn said additional money that may come in will be used to offset the
cost for several students to make the trip to Cambodia in December,
when a delegation from Milton will go to Cambodia to help dedicate the
school, which is under construction in a village near the Mekong
River. The school will be called the Milton School.
The travel company, American Council for International Studies, has
waived a number of fees and charges for students and will include all
meals, Conn said. The group will travel to Vietnam and Cambodia for
nine days, from Dec. 4-13.
Last summer, Conn visited Cambodia and was moved by the poverty and
lack of education in that country. He learned of the Educate Cambodia
project and found that many schools were built there with donations
from other countries, but only one school had been built with money
from the United States.
He decided to try to raise funds in Milton to build a school, and with
help of students and teachers throughout the district and
contributions from hundreds of people throughout the region, that goal
has been met.
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