About 20 fifth graders at Campestre Elementary School were thrilled to receive free school supplies from a generous local business and free books from the Socorro American Federation of Teachers.
Angie Islas, a nutrition coach and owner of The Healthy Zone, donated color pencils, notebooks and other essential items to students in April Luevano’s class on Aug. 14. She said the donations came at a perfect time as the Socorro ISD school year had started two weeks prior.
“(The students) were extremely excited just to see the amount of effort and love that they are giving to them,” Luevano said.
Students such as Brodie Hernandez and Madelyn Lara immediately opened their bag of supplies and flipped through the books they had selected.
Hernandez chose a Star Wars-themed novel because her family enjoys Star Wars movies. Lara said the markers were her favorite and she was eager to replace all the supplies in her pencil case with new ones.
“I feel thankful,” Lara said.
Principal Randi Shreve said the donation of supplies would help offset the cost for many parents and the generosity from The Healthy Zone and Socorro AFT exemplified the mutual support between the community and the school.
“I just think it's a wonderful opportunity to bridge that gap between our community and our school because we're here together for our scholars,” Shreve said.
Islas attended Horizon Heights Elementary in SISD as a child. She wanted to make a difference in the community by giving back and helping families with much-needed school supplies.
Islas solicited donations from her clients and other businesses to collect items. She said that watching the students get excited about the supplies was heartwarming.
“We have such a big community of people that were willing to help and willing to donate,” Islas said.