In the November food drive competition, Christine Badillo’s 1st-period AP Human Geography class won first place, collecting 259 cans in total.
“So our district partnered with our local service group, it’s called East Fort Bend Needs Ministry and they were also partnered with Shared Dreams,” Badillo said. “So during the holiday season, we have a lot of local families that are in need of the bare necessities like food and clothing, but we are able to provide their family with a festive Thanksgiving meal, holiday meals, and being able to put some presents under the trees. So both of these organizations come together to try to serve our community. And seeing how Fort Bend is probably the largest entity in the area, pairing with us is a smart move.”
Badillo’s class accounted for nearly one-fourth of the 1200 cans collected by the campus.
“I was very impressed,” Badillo said. “I was very proud of our first period cause they’re usually quiet during the day, you know, in the morning everyone’s really sleepy. I didn’t know how they were going to respond, but when the donations kept coming in and some students just kept bringing more and more, and you could see the heart come out of some of the students and it was really lovely to see.”
In order to celebrate achieving first place in donations, Badillo went out to buy tacos for the class as well as donuts provided by the administration.
“I think donuts are nice, and the admin, we are super happy they were on board and provided donuts,” Badillo said. “But I also wanted to show them that if they’re going out buying cans then I want to go out and do something for them. Just a little bit of an enticement to bring more and donate more.”
The top donator, freshman Simeon Fekade, donated over 100 cans to the cause.
“I really wanted to win as a class, but I also wanted to help people in need,” Fekade said.
Principal Brian Shillingburg also expressed how impressed he was with the students for donating so many cans.
“My desire as a school teacher at Clements High School is that you know the value of giving back, of serving others,” Shillingburg said. “And you see a big poster in my office here and it says servant leadership and that service is so key in your ability to understanding your purpose in the world and what life is all about. When you give, [a] couple [of] things happen. You’re making someone else’s life better right, number two, we all have problems, like you have them, I have them. It takes our eyes off of ourselves and it helps us not to be so egotistical and focused on me. But when we have that attitude of service like ‘Hey, I’m here to help, I’m here to serve, I’m here to give’ it makes a dramatic impact in the way we live our life. What you do for others, it changes who you are as a person. You’re not just out there to do for yourself, the number one thing is to take care of yourself, but it’s so important to give back to other people. And I want that to be known here and when I saw those cans out there, I was pretty proud.”
