Maloney School Raffles Baskets, Raises Donations

After a visit from U.S. Teaching Fellow Ryan Drysdale, students at the Maloney Interdistrict Magnet School in Waterbury, Connecticut collected donations for a raffle to raise money for Global Playground.

Drysdale visited fourth and fifth grade Japanese immersion classes at the school. After the visit, students made Japanese baskets complete with Japanese treats to raffle off to the whole school. After two weeks of selling raffle tickets, students sold 1000 tickets, raising $500 for Global Playground.

“The Student Council at our school introduced the baskets in the morning announcements every day, and we sent home flyers,” Teacher Jessica Haxhi said. “The Student Council students were responsible for collecting the money and tickets every day for two weeks.”

Although Drysdale only visited Japanese immersion classes, the whole school became involved in the fundraiser. 

“We are a magnet school so we have a lot of fancy technology, fancy classrooms, and all kinds of nice furniture and things,” Haxhi said. “I think it really helps our kids to think about what it’s like in other countries. It really impressed them when they found out that other kids don’t even have a building to go to.”

During Drysdale’s presentation, Haxhi noticed the students connected to the photos and videos most closely. Haxhi teaches fourth grade Japanese immersion, and she does a unit on schools around the world in her class. The visit reinforced the lesson taught earlier in the year. 

“He talked about all of Global Playground’s projects, but he also focused on the fact that they are going to be building a new school in Vietnam,” Haxhi said. “The students were really excited about that.” 

Although Drysdale only visited some classes, other teachers at the school were able to attend. Haxhi hopes the visit resonated with the other teachers as well. 


“The teachers got to hear about Global Playground from Ryan, and I hope that some of them in the English peaking classes will take this information and run with it,” Haxhi said. “It was very powerful for Ryan to be here.”