Teacher in the Spotlight
Spanish teacher and PHS Spanish department head Brighitte Snemis is doing big things inside the high school. Snemis is collecting water for the hurricane victims of Puerto Rico.
As of right now in Puerto Rico, 85% of the island has no power and many of those people are also dealing with the issue of not having water.
As soon as Snemis heard this she knew she wanted to help. A month or so ago Snemis helped a junior student at PHS, Sheridan Bickett, collect clothing for the victims of the hurricane in Texas. Once the hurricane hit Puerto Rico Snemis wanted to help right away.
Being a spanish teacher Snemis has many students that are Puerto Rican and had family members that were affected by the hurricane. Because of this, Snemis decided to do something big.
With the help of other teachers and administration Snemis began collecting water bottles and flashlights with batteries to send out to the victims. A week after the hurricane hit she began collecting these items, and says the turnout and assitance from students has been great.
Snemis’ back office of the classroom is filled with cases of water that she has had to move under a table in that office to make room for more water, which shows how much PHS students care to help.
“I had a student come with a car trunk full of water,” Snemis said, “I was just in awe because of how much this student did.”
Not only has Snemis been receiving water bottles from the high school but she has also partnered with the elementary schools in Portage to collect more items.
Once all items are collected they will be shipped out to Florida, then from there transported to Puerto Rico.
Snemis said she is just trying to do what is right and help everyone out, though she doesn't take all of the credit.
“Sheridan originally came to me and wanted to help with the victims of Hurricane Harvey but did not know how,” Snemis said, “We started collecting clothes and then sent those over. Sheridan's boyfriend is Puerto Rican and because of this she really wanted to help out again, so did I. So we got the idea of collecting items and then got that approved and went from there.”
Without the help of Bickett, Snemis said that the clothes drive for the victims of Harvey would probably not have happened as well as the inspiration for the collecting of items for Puerto Rico.
Fellow PHS teacher Allison Morphis has been helping with these drives as well. In Morphis’ classroom clothes, along with water and batteries with flashlights are being collected. All of the items are being sent in with the items Snemis is collecting as well.
Student in the Spotlight
Sheridan Bickett is not one to back down from a challenge. For the past couple of months this PHS junior has made a big impact on the school as well as the communities around her.
Bickett proposed the idea of collecting items of clothing for the hurricane Harvey victims shortly after the hurricane. Unsure of how to begin, she asked for help. With the help of Brighitte Snemis, Bickett collected bags full of clothes for these victims. Once the clothing was collected, she had it sent to Texas to aid those who lost everything in the hurricane.
This is not the only time Bickett has done something tremendous to help out others in need.
Recently she helped organize the water and flashlight drive for the victims of the hurricane in Puerto Rico. These donations helped bring awareness to the fact the Puerto Rico needs help. Without Bickett, some of these drives for the hurricane victims would have never happened.
Bickett is well known around PHS. She is a National Honor Society member and loves to give back to others. Because of her generosity, many now know the effects this hurricane has had on people and even students in PHS itself.
Many underclassmen can look to Bickett as an example of how a little bit of kindness and thought can make a huge impact.
Upcoming:
Portage High School has been collecting items for the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. The items will be sent out to Puerto Rico very soon and PHS’ sponsor of these donations will be flying out and hand distributing the collected items.
Brighitte Snemis is a spanish teacher at PHS and will be arriving the same date the items are supposed to arrive.
The items collected from PHS were flashlights, batteries, and cases of water. There were also items collected from Jones Elementary School in Portage, which included cans of food and other necessities.
Even though the hurricane has passed, the people in Puerto Rico are still suffering. PHS is working to aid these people with the clothing, water, and food they need to begin rebuilding.
With a decent number of students being hispanic and Puerto Rican at PHS, many students are thankful for the help this is offering to Puerto Rico and for many, potentially members of their families.
Communications with family and friends in Puerto Rico has remained limited after the hurricane. One student mentioned that they are currently only able to be in contact with their family every week or two.
Alongside these donations and collections many hope that it brings awareness to the damage caused by the hurricane. Donations are for now no longer being collected, however, Snemis is considering doing another collection soon.