JACKSON, Wyo. — Local students from Jackson Hole High School’s (JHHS) Rotary Interact Club will host a car wash on June 8 from 2 to 6 p.m. at JHHS to support the Riebeeck East Combined School (RECS).
RECS is a school located on the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where many schools cannot operate due to a lack of essential resources.
The Rotary Interact Club started its work in South Africa last year after hosting a car wash to fund the salary of a math and science teacher at Ntsika Secondary School. Since then, the club has partnered with local nonprofit AMANZI: Water to Schools. AMANZI aims to provide schools in South Africa with sustainable water solutions that allow schools to remain open and students to succeed. Working with AMANZI to support their initiatives at RECS, the Rotary Interact Club decided to fund the purchase of staff room furniture at the school.
For many of these impoverished schools, it is difficult to obtain furniture from available funds.
“What’s really great about this car wash is that it shows how much the students and this community really care about creating change and doing good in the world,” said Rotary Interact Club President Isaac Larsen. Larsen joined the Interact Club during his freshman year at JHHS.
The car wash is entirely organized and run by students like Larsen in the Rotary Interact Club and made possible by the local community.
The founder of AMANZI, Julia Heemstra, has provided guidance through her deep connections with South Africa. Heemstra grew up in South Africa and founded a preschool in the Eastern Cape in 1991. Additionally, resources from the Fund for Public Education and Teton County School District have been benefited the the Interact Club’s efforts to support these schools in South Africa.
“This project is especially inspiring as it allows students to give back to teachers,” said Heemstra. “By providing the staff room furniture at the Riebeeck East Combined School, JHHS students will be creating a better work environment for the staff who ensure strong educational outcomes for students at the Riebeeck East school.”
