Middle Schoolers Take Action: Supporting Wildfire Relief in Los Angeles

When our students returned to school after winter break, devastating wildfires had just broken out across the Los Angeles metropolitan area, leaving a massive impact on the region. As the week unfolded, conversations around the fires became a part of campus life. During their weekly Town Hall meeting, Dr. Llanque, our Head of Middle School, asked students to raise their hands if they knew someone affected by the wildfires. Nearly every hand went up. The fires may have been hundreds of miles away, but their reach extended directly into our community.

 

Moments like these show just how much our students care and step up to make a difference. Moved by empathy after hearing about the fires, our Student Council jumped into action. They spearheaded a drive to collect food and essential items to support disaster relief efforts, quickly gathering a team of students to help. With the guidance of Mr. Laws and other Middle School teachers, they set up a meeting to plan all the details to make the idea possible—from spreading the word to organizing the logistics. “I thought it was amazing seeing all these kids from across all grades, even the 6th graders, taking a big step to help people in need,” said 7th grader ​​Till.

 

During the third week in January, our Middle Schoolers greeted families at morning carline to collect donations from the Seven Hills community. They also wrote heartfelt thank-you letters to the firefighters working tirelessly to battle and contain the wildfires. At the end of the week, students packed up all the donations and loaded them into Science Teacher Mr. Shargel’s truck. Before he drove the items down to the LA Regional Food Bank, students signed the back of the truck as a way to send their support to the people of Los Angeles.

Mr. Shargel made the trip south and delivered the donations in person, where the food bank staff warmly welcomed him and expressed their gratitude for our school’s generosity.

Seventh grader Avery reflected on the experience—“I was very grateful when we received so many donations; we almost ran out of boxes! We have held previous drives before, but I have never seen this great result, and this project just shows that if we all come together as a community, we can make a big difference.”

This student-led effort was an incredible example of our Middle Schoolers living out our mission: “to foster respect for and responsibility to our world.” Seeing our students channel their empathy into action is always inspiring, and this drive was a true testament to that.