Tsunami-Relief Groups Advise K-12

As American schools pitch in with an array of charitable projects in response to the tsunami in South Asia, experts say educators and students should consider carefully how they can most effectively support relief groups, avoid fund-raising scams, and incorporate their efforts into service-learning programs.

“The role of the schools is to educate, and this a great opportunity to get kids involved … and concerned about the world,” said Daniel Borochoff, the president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, based in Chicago. “[But] people need to remember that this [relief effort] is going to go on for years. We need to get people focused on the long-term issues and not just emergency needs.”

When students returned to school after the Christmas break, teachers and principals were bombarded with requests to help survivors of one of the worst natural disasters on record. Some schools immediately began fund raising, selling everything from popular arm bracelets to requests for songs played at school, while others sponsored bake sales, dress-up days, and quarter drives. ( "U.S. Schools Find Lessons in Tsunami," ...