In order to support troops overseas, the Language Arts Department recently participateds in a collection of general supplies for the soldiers’ daily use.

“Certain organizations gather items for the military stationed overseas and make care packages of items to assist and comfort them in the more dangerous areas of the world,” language arts teacher Paul Jaycox said.

The fundraiser was sponsored by a branch of Focus Saint Louis called The Youth Leadership Saint Louis program.  This program involves 10 Lafayette juniors each year and consists of them coming together to solve problems in our community.

Assistant Principal Matt Dieckhaus said, “The kids decided to do a fundraiser. There are tons of fundraisers going on at Lafayette all the time, so they wanted to do one that hasn’t been done lately.”

Despite the goal of obtaining the most items possible, Dieckhaus believes the ultimate goal is learning life skills.

“Even if they only collect one toothbrush, they will have had communication and coordination experience, and that’s what really matters here,” he said.

Jaycox’s reason for pushing his students to support this effort was personal.

“My motivation stems mainly from my brother who recently enlisted and from my grandfather who is a Korean War Vet,” Jaycox said.

The tactics Jaycox used involved a ‘pizza for breakfast’ motto, since the prize for bringing in the most items was a pizza party for the class.

“I also tried to peer pressure them into donating a dollar and we bought items in bulk.  That helped to supplement the overall donations we received from a few very generous families,” Jaycox explained.

Jaycox’s class brought in a whopping 735 items during the drive.