It all started back in December when the fifth grade teachers at Chatham Middle School decided to make their annual charitable contribution close to home, this year to Habitat’s Women Build. Momentum continued in February at a hands-on work party at the house of Debby Roth, teacher and Women Build steering committee member. Twenty faculty, staff and administrators, came together to construct footstools and wooden boxes that Home Depot’s Craig Fenoff donated through the efforts of teacher Kate Lynch. While some were hammering to the accompaniment of two-year old Finnegan Lynch’s piano music, others made generous donations. One at a time the women in the group lined up at the computer to volunteer a day’s time to work at the Women Build site.
Supervised by teacher Nancy Barth, the Middle School students painted the teachers’ handiwork with the middle school colors of red and black and then stenciled the boxes and stools with the paw prints of the Chatham panther. The Junior Honor Society joined in and promoted Habitat at the annual What’s Happening at CMS open house, collecting donations from parents and community members. All told, the Chatham Middle School collected $840 and counting! Hands down, this was an amazing act of service on the part of one school!
