EVERETT, OCT. 31: Students at North Middle School in Everett are showing support for Hurricane Helene victims in North Carolina through national club B.I.O.N.I.C. (Believe It or Not I Care).
The club is a way to help and support students and staff through challenging times by making new students feel welcome, helping students with illness and reaching out to schools that experience tragedies.
“We mailed the 25-foot poster to the students and staff at Asheville Middle School to show them that we are thinking about them post Hurricane Helene,” Susy Smothers, North Middle School B.I.O.N.I.C. club co-advisor said.
The B.I.O.N.I.C. club at North Middle School was adopted this year and currently has 15 students and five counselors, including Smothers.
Students in the club gathered signatures for the poster, which will be sent to students at Asheville Middle School in North Carolina, a school impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
Asheville and many public schools in the area were closed at the beginning of the month, some with no return date. The New York Incident Management Team occupied the Asheville Middle School’s library, acting as a distribution center for those impacted by the storm.
Students at Asheville returned to school last week. The signed poster will be sent to 589 students at the middle school.
So far, the North Middle B.I.O.N.I.C club has hosted monthly new student pancake breakfasts and delivered six pies to students and staff who experienced the death of a loved one, among other projects.
“Kids often get a bad rep, people assume that they only care about themselves or don’t care at all when really they do, and just need an outlet and to be guided,” Smothers said.
Smothers said that she is applying for grants to help fund outreach capabilities. She said the more funding that can be secured the greater the possibilities for outreach.
“We wanted to give the kids a perspective on how to reach students beyond our community,” Smothers said.
