Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Homestead High School assistant principal Gail Jensen and student Tommy Williams delivered food for the needy last Friday.




The spirit of giving and competition drives Homestead students' efforts

By Michelle Alaimo

Matt Zehner, American studies teacher and boys varsity basketball coach at Homestead High School, will not have to shave his legs and wear shorts to school. Instead, English teacher and activities director Paula Bassett is walking the halls while sporting Christmas-tree-colored hair.

Zehner had publicly guaranteed that his class would win the school's annual Christmas canned-food drive, and that if they did, he would let a student shave his legs, and that he'd wear shorts for a week. His confidence stemmed from the fact that Zehner's class won last year, with the equivalent of 203 cans per student.

Meanwhile, Bassett bravely pledged to her class that she'd let them streak her hair green on Dec. 13 if they collected the most cans. Her class came in first with an average of 553 food items per student and won a pizza party from the Parent Teacher Student Association.

Even during the holiday season, when many people are stirred by a desire to help others, Homestead High School's efforts stand out.

Last Friday, Dec. 10, the Sunnyvale Community Services Christmas Center reaped the benefits of the school's canned food drive-donations of $8,000 and more than 30,000 items of food.

The Christmas Center at 840 W. Washington Ave., which is is set up like a store allowing those in need to "shop" for the items they need, serves nearly 4,000 people during a three-and-a-half-week run during the holiday season. It's the third year Homestead students have donated to the center, but the second year in a row that a massive can drive, organized by HHS's leadership classes, broke records for generosity. "Last year was just unreal,"

Sunnyvale Community Services director of volunteers, Pat Wogen said. "It's more than just a little can drive." While last year's large donation from the school took the center by surprise, Wogen said that this year the center made room ahead of time for the numerous items of food which include hundreds of packages of Top Ramen noodles, soup, and canned vegetables.

This year's final tallies are double the amount raised last year. Half of the food was donated on the final day of the drive that ran from Nov. 15 to Dec. 10.

Although the school has held can drives for years, it wasn't until last year that the drive was turned into a competition between third-period classes. And that's when things really started to heat up.

Each day, the daily food-item-per-person ratio in the top three classes was reported. When the final numbers were totaled, Bassett's kids broke out the hair dye. Roger Edwards' math class came in second with 425 items per student and last year's reigning champion came in third with 400 items per student.

Edward's and Zehner's class also won a candy party paid for by the PTSA. While the top three classes have astounding averages, Wogen said, the entire Homestead school community is to be commended for their efforts and generosity.

"They really do make a difference," Wogen said. The canned food drive isn't all about competition, Associated Student Body social manager and senior Hazel Ang said. "We are grateful for everything this community has done for us and we are giving something back to them," Ang said.

And give back they did.

Nearly half of the $8,000 came from students' pockets, Bassett said and almost $2,000 of the donations came in on the last day of the canned food drive.

"This just shows the spirit that teenagers have and that they want to do good things," Bassett said.

She adds that the faculty as a whole was behind the canned food drive, with teachers pulling out envelopes on a daily basis, asking for donations.

In addition to money and food, Bassett said, new toys and clothing were also donated. The money donated by HHS will go toward the purchase of foods such as sugar and flour, Wogan said.

She adds that the center also buys script from Safeway and Pak-N-Save, allowing their "shoppers" to purchase the fresh meats of their choice.

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